The Batman, the Panther, and Jade
by amaven
Summary: Jade Walters is new in Gotham and things don't start out well. A mysterious villian, Panther, seems to be out to get her.To ensure Jade's safety Bruce Wayne begins seeing her socially and find she's more than he imagined.
1. Chapter 1

******Note from the author******

**This is based from the Batman Begins/Dark Night worlds, but doesn't take much at all from either of the movies. Most of the characters are my own creation, those that aren't are owned by DC Comics.**

**That being said, this is a story I've rewritten a few times and just went through one last pass to polish a few things. If you like it *please* leave a review. The story is already finished and I'll be adding chapters daily or every other day.**

**Chapter 1-Introductions**

Jade took a long glance at the Wayne Tower that lit up the skyline of Gotham City. She had to admit the city was quite beautiful at night, and where she was she couldn't hear police sirens.

"Ms. Walters, we're here."

She sighed, put on her picture perfect smile, and stepped out of the limo. 'Can't believe I got suckered into coming here. I have a dozen other things I could be doing right now and stepping in for my father isn't one of them,' she thought, reigning in her temper with perfect practice and keeping the smile on her face.

"Hey, baby, let's let them get a picture of us together." David said, taking her hand in his.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked through clenched teeth, her lips barely moving.

"Ruben said you'd be here. I put in a donation so I could join you. I still love you, Jade."

"I can't stand you, David." She said again, waving to the cameras and gently tugging her hand from his grip.

"We need to talk, baby."

"Not here, you moron," Jade said, her voice nearly a growl.

She was attending a fundraiser that was going to repairing a lot of recent damage the city had gone through, a fundraiser her father had donated a great deal of money to. Ruben Walters had been born and raised in Gotham, but moved to Hollywood where he made, and still does make, millions of dollars directing movies. Jade didn't see eye-to-eye with her father on nearly everything, but she loved him and when he asked her to go in his place to Gotham, a city she already planned on visiting for a while, she didn't hesitate to agree. Still, knowing that she had put herself on for this didn't make her any less irritated. And then the old bastard had talked her ex-boyfriend into flying across the country to…

"Champagne, lovely!" She said, taking a glass from a passing waiter. 'Twenty more of these and things won't look so bad,' she thought.

She had finished her second glass of champagne before the event even started. It would have been four or five but avoiding David caused her to miss several chances of grabbing a refill.

"Ms. Walters, so glad you could come."

Jade nodded quaintly, "Wouldn't miss it for the world, Senator. My dad has told me so many wonderful stories about growing up in Gotham, I've always wanted to visit. I'm glad I'm getting my chance now. I hope to open a new branch of my clothing company here if all goes well."

"We are glad to have you, Ms. Walters. Come with me, there are a few people I'd like you to meet."

Jade gave him an eager look, all the while thinking, 'Hurry, hurry, faster, faster, David is coming, David is coming.' "David!" Jade sighed.

David put his hands on her shoulders and leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Jade, dear, come with me, there are a few people I'd like you to meet."

Jade turned to the Senator, hoping and praying, he'd get her out of it. "Oh, go on, Ms. Walters, we'll meet up in a bit."

"Excuse me, Senator, thank you." Jade said with her perfect smile.

She let David put his arm around her, and whispered in his ear, "I swear to all that is holy if you don't leave me alone, once we get out of this I will make you hurt in places you didn't realize you had."

David laughed, "You are so cute when you are angry, Jade. Oh, we get along so well."

He gave her shoulders a little squeezed. "My god, can you be any denser?" She asked, finally letting her smile fade into the disgusted face she truly felt. "Excuse me, David, I'm going somewhere you can't follow me."

She ducked from beneath his arm, grabbed a new glass of champagne, and all but ran into the women's bathroom. She drained the glass in one swallow, and went to the sink. Her make-up and face were flawless, her California tan a bit faded. Her blonde hair done up and pinned to the top of her head with countless pins. Sighing deeply she made sure her gown was smooth, and flawless. 'Produce the perfect image, be polite, remember to smile, check your teeth,' she thought, grinning at the mirror to check her teeth quickly. Her grin faded, her eyes dark and sad, her look simply…depressed. "I hate this." She muttered, before pulling her image back together and left the comfort the bathroom had given her.

She took a look at the dozens of rich people conversing, mingling…_networking_. Jade felt positively sick, whether it was from stress or practically chugging the equivalent of a bottle of champagne in under an hour, she wasn't sure.

Jade leaned on the banister outside the door, closing her eyes and breathing in the cool air. She moved her lips silently as she recited a poem to calm her nerves. "It's not polite to stare." She said aloud, opening her eyes and glancing at another deserter who was enjoying the fresh air on the other side of the doors. Several feet away and in the shadows, but she had noticed him when she stepped out, and had felt his eyes on her the entire time.

"Sorry, didn't mean to. I'm trying to remember where I know you from." He took a few steps forward into the light.

Jade stood up straight and put on a relaxed smiled, a real smile, and held out her hand, "Jade Walters, I came in place of my father, Ruben."

He took her hand and shook it, "Ah, yes, that rings a bell." She took her hand back, and resumed leaning against the banister and looking out at the skyline of Gotham. He looked out at the city himself, "What were you saying to yourself, if I may ask?"

She snorted a laugh, "A poem to help calm me down a bit. Being at these things gets me a bit tense." She looked him over, "They do the same to you, too, don't they?"

"Yeah," he admitted with a nod. "But that's why they always serve free alcohol."

She laughed, and nodded, "That's a good point. A very good point."

"So what poem?"

He saw her cheeks flush a bit, and he grinned. How adorable was that, a woman accustomed to having her life in the public eye got embarrassed over a poem? "The spider and the fly." She finally answered. She looked at him, his eyes thoughtful as he probably tried to think if that was one he had heard or not. "Will you walk into my parlor? Said the spider to the fly. It's a fairly famous line."

"Yes." He nodded in acknowledgement. "I do remember now, but it's been a while since I've heard it."

"I always find it fitting for these types of things."

The door opened, "Ah, Mr. Wayne, there you are. They would like you inside." Jade straightened, looking at the man who had asked for Mr. Wayne, and the man she had just been having a casual and…actually nice conversation with.

"Okay, I'll be right in." He nodded, and turned back to Jade. "I guess I'll see you inside."

"You…You're Mr. Wayne?" Jade asked.

"Oh, sorry." He held out his hand again, "Yes. Call me Bruce."

Jade shook his hand, "Bruce. Good to meet you."

She watched him slip inside, and let her jaw unhinge. Bruce Wayne, huh? All this time she thought she was talking to some Senator's son…or…well anyone except the billionaire Bruce Wayne.

She sighed, "And now, dear little children, who may this story read. To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne'er heed. Unto an evil counselor close heart, and ear, and eye. And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly." With a final breath she turned, and went back into the spider's parlor.

Jade mingled when she had to, but mostly hid in the back trying to get a buzz from the champagne. Keeping an eye on David, and moving to evade him when he got too close. 'Three more hours of this…no problem,' she thought with a yawn.

At twenty-eight, she had had her share of bad boyfriends, but Xander topped the list. CEO of Tempest Pharmaceuticals he had bullied his way up the chain of command there for only five years before taking over. He was pushing forty, and had been friends with her father for several years. With her father's gentle, persistent…even nagging persuasion over the past seven years she had finally decided to go on a casual dinner date with David…and for the past six months she had been regretting it. The past three weeks she had been constantly telling him it was over. With David's success and large bank account he wouldn't have to work hard to get a young woman interested in him…plenty of gold diggers available in California, hell all of America…but he had his mind set on Jade and the thought of letting her go wasn't getting through to him.

Jade was waiting for her driver to pull around, her coat tightly wrapped around her as she watched the rain fall down. A hand landed on her backside, and as tightly wound as she was from the evening, she wasted no time turning around and elbowing the groper in the chest. David stumbled back a bit, his hand to his chest, "Ow."

Jade glanced around, there were only a few people left waiting for their rides to pull up and all of them were too busy building themselves up after the night of charity. "Don't do that." She said with a quiet, but angry voice.

David gave her a wolfish grin and shrugged, "Why not?"

"I would be forced to embarrass you in front of all your new upper-class friends," warned Jade.

"What's wrong, baby?" He asked, his eyes narrowing in what mimicked concern.

Jade clenched her jaw, "Don't call me that. Don't call me. Don't talk to me. And…stop following me around!"

"Baby…" David strode up to her with outstretched arms, positive that she wouldn't do anything loud and obnoxious in public.

"Ms. Walters, your ride has just arrived." Bruce Wayne said, slipping between her and David and offering her shelter under his umbrella. "I'll walk you to it."

"Thank you!" Jade said, relieved to have the umbrella, but more so for Bruce's interruption. "Please, call me Jade."

He smiled warmly as he opened her limo door for her, "You can relax now, Jade, you survived the spider's parlor."

She gave him a surprised smile, "Thank you, Bruce."

He closed the door, and waited at the curb for the next car to pull into position.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2-Introducing Panther**

A dark figure scaled the sides of the Wayne Enterprises building with special made discs that clung to the smooth glass on both their booths and in their hands. Thick leather pants, an armored leather vest with several pockets. A silk body-stocking under the vest with a hood that covered the whole face. The eyes were not visible, goggles with green-yellow lenses that reflected light in some angles.

The intruder reached the top, and was peering in through the window of the CEO's office. One hand hung onto the window while the other reached into a pocket. The glass cutter was easily found, and he was ready to get to work.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice said.

The intruder was so startled they almost lost their grip on what was keeping them against the building. He looked up to see the Gotham masked vigilante standing at the top of the building and looking down at him. Batman. They reached to their goggles, adjusting the vision to get a better look. Kevlar vest, black leather cape, and a mask with horns. "I don't suppose you could come back in fifteen minutes after I finish what I came for?" The intruder called up, their voice distorted by a mechanism that was hidden in the mask.

"Afraid not, I'm a busy man."

The intruder placed the glass cutter back inside a pocket, "Then let's get this out of the way," he said, and started climbing to the very top of the building. "I do want you to know that this is a major inconvenience and a waste of my time."

"I'll make a note of that." Batman mused.

The intruder reached the top, and with and easy movement flipped over the ledge to stand face to face with the masked vigilante.

"Can we do this the easy way and you turn yourself in?"

"I'm also very busy, going to prison wouldn't fit in with my plans. I just want to say in advance that I am sorry for whatever you make me do to you."

With speed and grace the intruder grabbed an object from their belt, and with a flick of the wrist it extended into a baton. Batman backed up and dodged the first several swipes of it, then using his metal cuffs to block the worst of the blows from the heavy stick.

The intruder jumped back as Batman took the offensive, giving them space from the fight, "I have an early morning, think we could speed this up?" Batman asked.

With a snap the intruder collapsed the baton and placed it back in their belt. "We'll meet again, Batman. Next time I'll have an offer for you."

The intruder ran to the edge of the building, and Batman ran to stop them. They leapt, and he skid to a stop before falling himself. He watched as the intruder soared through the air at an arc, before landing several stories down on another building. They rolled and stopped, and he was positive they were dead.

Then the intruder stood up, waved at Batman, and started running again. "Oh no you don't." Batman muttered.

The intruder was mentally calculating how long it would take them to reach base. It was a long run. That didn't bother him, he had good endurance. Pretty sweet agility, and the best boots to take impact money could buy.

Although he didn't achieve his goal, he was at least making good time. After thinking that he figured he just jinxed himself. His laughter came out as a distorted rumble as he skidded to a halt. "Come on, is it really illegal to climb a building?"

"In my city it is," Batman said at the end of the alley, taking long steps towards in intruder. "Why were you trying to break into Wayne Enterprises?"

The intruder went to his belt for the baton, and with a flick of Batman's wrist a metal bat-shaped disk flew through the air. The intruder dropped the baton and raised their hand to block the disk from hitting them. The hand clasped around it and he turned with the momentum and spun around to throw it back at Batman. It hit Batman's armored chest and dropped at his feet. The intruder appeared to be annoyed, "You are going to make me late," they said in their mechanical voice, shaking the hand that had just taken the impact from the bat-shaped projectile.

"I want to know what you were trying to do, who are you?"

"I'm Panther, and if you know what's good for you…you'll let me leave it at that." And with that the intruder turned and sprinted to the end of the alleyway, Batman wasn't far behind.

With running start the intruder leapt again once he hit the sidewalk, jumping over the streets and evening traffic. Horns honked and tires squealed as they witnessed the black figure soaring over them.

The intruder landed, and there was the sound of crash. Metal on metal, glass shattering, screams and cries. "Dammit!" The intruder cursed, and turned to look. He hadn't meant to do that. A delivery truck had been watching him so closely they ran the red light. Two cars had hit the truck coming from either side, and several others hadn't been able to stop in time.

And one of the cars was smoking, flames licking from under the hood. Batman reached the end of the alley in time to see the collision, and looked at the intruder across the street. Someone was screaming, someone was in the burning car.

The intruder started running, and Batman watched as they ran towards the chaos at the intersection. "Stand back!" Panther hollered, reaching the flaming car. The smoke had gotten thick, the flames growing and engulfing the whole front of the car. "Let me through! MOVE IT!"

Batman wasn't far behind, "There is a kid in the back." He shouted, reaching the car the same time as the intruder. They looked at each other, Batman's eyes meeting the goggles of the intruder.

"The door is stuck." The intruder said after a tense moment, "The driver is pinned by the steering wheel."

The passenger side door opened with some effort. "Please! Help my baby!" The driver, a young woman, pleaded and then started coughing on the smoke.

The intruder climbed into the car, grabbing the toddler in the back and taking him from his car seat. "Take him." He called out, holding the infant to Batman. Batman did so, and passed him off to one of the onlookers.

The intruder was sitting in the passenger seat when Batman turned, and was trying to free the woman who was pinned. The steering wheel had folded down from the impact, pressing painfully and securely against her legs. Leaning back a bit the intruder kicked at the steering wheel, trying to give the woman enough room to move. "Come on!" The intruder cried out in frustration as the steering wheel only budged a bit, then started coughing on the smoke. With the motivation that he was going to die with the woman if the car blew up he kicked again, the steering wheel groaned and moved.

Batman grabbed the intruder under the arms and pulled him out. For a moment he imagined he would be handcuffed and screwed. But Batman pulled him out, dropped him, and then reached in for the woman. "Everyone move!" He shouted as he carried the coughing woman away from the smoking car.

Sirens were blaring, on their way to help. "Thank you!" The woman coughed, falling into the intruder.

The intruder gently led her to the group of onlookers who had moved a safe distance away incase the gas tank ignited before the fire trucks arrived.

The intruder backed away, escaping into the chaos now on the street.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3-Welcome to Gotham**

Jade watched the morning news while getting dressed and eating breakfast, and talking to her father. "Gotham is great, Dad, a bit colder than I like but it's fine. Crazy people with masks running around, but fine."

"I'm just glad you weren't hurt, honey."

Jade laughed, "Please, Dad, you know as well as I do I was in bed asleep when that crash happened. Can't believe you heard about it all the way in Hollywood."

"Well David called me."

"Oh…"

"So you two are doing well, huh?"

"What?" Jade cried out, dropping her toast. Speaking to her dad, she was free to have a tantrum. A good one…lots of yelling and screaming, maybe even kicking. "What the hell did he say?"

"Just that you looked beautiful last night, dear," Ruben Walters said lightly, hearing the rage in his daughter's voice.

"Dad, that freak is stalking me! I'm two steps away from getting a restraining order. A nice, big, PUBLIC, restraining order."

Ruben sighed on the other end of the phone, "Honey, David truly cares about you. Now, you have to think about your past history with relationships…you can't say many have been…"

"Not having this conversation, Dad." Jade muttered, feeling her anger die. "I have to head out, I plan on looking at some real estate out here."

"Oh, really?" Ruben said, sounding pleased. "Get in touch with where you came from?"

"You came from Gotham, Dad, I'm from Hollywood. You made sure of that. I'm just here looking into business possibilities."

"Well give me a call when you get settled. I'll let you know some of the city highlights."

"I'm sure a lot has changed in the past thirty years since you left, Dad. I'll call you in a few days. Love you." A shiver went up her back as she hung up the phone.

Jade oversaw the moving crew at her new condo. A nice flat downtown, secure building and secure underground garage. "The couch against the wall, please." She said softly, pointing to where she wanted the black suede couch.

"Ms. Walters, this should be the last piece." Another mover said, carrying in a shelf. "Would you like me to hang it up for you?"

"That'd be great. It goes right between the windows."

"No problem."

The two who had moved the couch looked around, "Guess we'll see you downstairs, Mickey."

"I'll be ten minutes, fellas."

Jade approved the height of the shelf, and went into the kitchen to sort out the receipts moving and furnishing a new home had left her. A tight headache pinching her forehead as she thought that she had to sort them, find out where she put the stamps, and get them mailed to her go-to girl, Joan. Joan took care of anything and everything for Jade, managing her bank accounts, investments, speaking for her to the press, Joan was invaluable…but she wasn't here to sort this herself.

"Everything alright, Ms. Walters?"

She looked up, seeing that Mickey had finished hanging up the shelf and giving her an odd glance. "Yeah, just thinking," said Jade with a quick smile. "Just a bit stressed with moving."

"Oh, I would think someone like you would be used to it." Mickey shrugged, digging in his pockets. "I have an invoice for you, where did I put it?"

Jade sighed, and thumbed through the receipts, "I think I already got it, actually. Give me a…"

Jade glanced up in time to see Mickey holding a gun at her, her eyes widening in shock and fear before he pulled the trigger.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4-Dangerous City**

The tranquilizer hit her in the neck. Her knees buckled and she went down hard, hitting her head on the counter before falling to the floor, the papers she had been carefully organizing falling into disorder around her.

Mickey stuffed the gun back into his pocket, and grabbed Jade easily in his arms and threw her over his shoulder and moved as quickly as he could to the elevators.

He watched the numbers anxiously as the elevator moved down, silently praying that it wouldn't stop. It was late, no one else had a reason to be coming or going. "Three. Two." He muttered under his breath, and a slow smile came across his face, "Home free…"

The elevator jolted to a stop at the ground floor, and his face went pale and cold. He fumbled in his pocket for the gun as the elevator doors slid open. The man and woman, dressed well and probably coming home after a nice dinner party, actually took a step into the elevator before freezing in terror at the man with the gun pointed at him. "Might be in your best interest to get the next one."

The woman screamed, and the man pulled her back and into the lobby. Mickey kept the gun pointed at the lobby until the doors closed once again and continued to take him to the garage.

Mickey was mentally scolding himself as the hole in his plan pretty much screwed him over, but he was still determined to get Jade out of Gotham.

He threw her, literally, into the back of his van. Her head hit the metal floor with a thunk, and he winced as he slammed the door and jumped into the driver's seat. The security guard was still asleep, a tranquilizer dart still in his abdomen, and it would be easy to escape suspicion in the traffic of Gotham as long as he drove carefully.

Hank, the doorman, wasted no time in calling the police. From the security cameras in the garage he was able to tell them the kidnapper was driving a large white van, nothing written on the side, just a plain white van. The couple who had nearly walked into the kidnapper were able to provide a decent description of the kidnapper. And the victim, all he had to do was say Jade Walters and they knew the importance. A daughter of a millionaire, a millionaire herself once gaining access to her trust fund and clever investing, and after only a week in Gotham she was already a popular socialite.

Commissioner Gordon went to the top of the police station, and turned on the Bat-signal. A bright spot light hummed to life, and hit the clouds above Gotham. A circle of light with a bat inside could be seen from any point in the city.

Bruce Wayne saw it, and moved into his study. Tapping a few keys on the grand piano in the corner caused a bookcase to swing forward, revealing a secret elevator which took him to his secret lair, the lair of Batman.

"What's going on?"

Gordon turned to face his masked friend, "A woman has just been kidnapped. We need to find her, and we need help."

"What do you know so far?"

"She was kidnapped from her home in downtown Gotham, and the kidnapper was driving away in a white van. Had a gun. Security guard was taken out by a tranquilizer, we don't know if he has live ammo. The woman is Jade Walters, a very rich woman."

"I've heard of her," Batman said softly. "I'll start looking."

"Thank you, Batman."

Finding a white van wasn't hard, there were roughly two or three traveling every way on any street you could look for. Traffic stops had been put in place, but they were most likely too late. Batman reached the building Jade had been kidnapped from, it had been maybe half an hour. "If I was going to kidnap someone who would be easily recognized where would I go? I've been found out, I know I don't have a lot of time…" He thought about the traffic stops, "I see one of them coming up, and I know I'm in trouble. I turn off, buying time to think, trying another road." He put his mini-tank, the Tumbler, code-named the Batmobile, into traffic, and began to speed.

Mickey was thinking over possibilities, going in circles and seeing different traffic stops that were effectively blocking him. Batman watched the van circle the same six blocks three times before becoming certain this was it, and a smile came over his face. He dropped down from a rooftop, opening his wings to slow his fall and guide him to the van.

Mickey jumped and screamed as something hit the roof, slamming on the breaks. Batman held on, and jumped down to stand by the driver's seat, opening the door. "Traffic stop." He said, pulling the driver out and peering in the back to see the legs of a woman on the floor in the back. "We may have a problem." He said to Mickey.

Mickey went to run, and Batman grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back and slamming him into the side of the van. He bounced back, digging into his pocket and pulling out his gun. He fired the tranquilizer dart, it hit Batman square in the chest…and bounced off the armor. "You'll have to do better than that."

With Mickey bound and in the back of his own van, Batman reached in and lifted Jade in his arms.

There was blood on her neck, and a cut on her forehead that had stopped bleeding. He carried her to his vehicle, and set her inside and prepared to radio the police.

Jade started to come to. She remembered the gun…had she passed out? Her legs and arms felt like lead, tingling and numb, and her head hurt. She tried to move, and started falling forward. Unable to stop her momentum or lift her arms in time to stop it her head landed on the front of the car.

"Ow…" She moaned, leaning over and falling halfway out of the car.

Batman caught her before she added another head injury, putting her back into the car. "Ms. Walters, can you hear me?"

She slowly raised her hand, getting it to her chest, and with effort getting it to her head. She winced as it fell on one of her bumps.

Batman took her hand and set it back on her lap. "Ms. Walters, I'm going to look into your eyes. You might have a concussion."

'A concussion?' Jade thought, slowly falling to the left. "What…?" She moaned.

Batman grabbed her arm and pulled her back into a sitting position. He took her face in his hand, turning it to face him and pulling open her eyes and looking into both of them. Her pupils were even, and she was coming out of it. "You were sedated, and taken from your home. You are safe now."

Jade started opening her eyes herself, blinking slowly until her vision came into focus. She fell back in shock at the sight of Batman, and he once again pulled her to a sitting position. "An ambulance is on its way for you, the police will be here shortly."

"No…no hospital…" She muttered, trying to swat his hand away. "I need…to go home..."

"You aren't in any shape to go anywhere," Batman mused. "Give it a few moments, let your head clear."

He let her place her feet outside, she started taking slow and deep breaths. Batman began to hope she wasn't going to be sick in his car, but thought better to say it. "I…I had a mover in my apartment." Jade said quietly, going over the event in her mind. "He pulled a gun on me. I don't think I fainted."

"You were sedated," repeated Batman, hearing sirens in the distance.

Jade brought her hand to her neck, scratching off a bit of the dried blood.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

She lifted her head a bit to look at him, "Like my brain is trying to escape my skull." She gave him a weak smile, and let her head rest in her hands.

The ambulance pulled up. Batman helped Jade to her feet, and walked her over to it. "Thanks." She said, turning to face him one more time. Her face was in obvious pain, her arms and legs trembling as if they may fail her at any moment.

He nodded, and walked back to his vehicle.

Jade was grateful that the press hadn't heard about her exciting evening. All they would ever know was a man had broken into her apartment. Once in handcuffs Mickey confessed and spilled. "I have nothing against her…I don't even know who she is, honestly. I was going to be paid a million dollars to take her out of Gotham."

"By who?" Gordon asked.

Mickey shrugged, "I never saw his face. Or heard his voice, he hid it with some distorter. He gave me a hundred grand up front, and showed me the rest. Said he'd find me once he heard she was missing."

"Why did he want her?"

Mickey shook his head, "I don't know, and I didn't ask. I just knew there was a lot of money involved."

"Tell me everything you can about the man who offered you the money," Gordon said.

"He was dressed all in black. He wore a vest that reminded me of the army…a lot of pockets and a bit bulky. His face was covered, and he wore green goggles…maybe night-vision. And his voice was distorted, like he was talking through a machine."

Jade walked from behind a two-way mirror, her arms crossed and a sour look on her face. "Ms. Walters, do you know anyone who would want to do this? Harm you?"

She rested her head in her hand, "I have a few ideas…believe me…"

"This is important, Ms. Walters, please, tell us everything and anything that can help us protect you."

Jade took a few breaths. "I'm a humanitarian, and I spent last year raising hell in a few countries that still have slavery and child labor. I had received some death threats, but nothing ever serious."

"This serious enough for you?" Batman asked in a harsh voice.

"I bought thousands of slaves their freedom, something everyone in this damn country takes for granted every second," Jade said. "Is that serious enough for you?"

"No one is judging your good deeds, Ms. Walters. Please…continue."

"Crime lords from Mani to Thailand that use slaves to increase their own fortune. When the threats started coming in I started backing off. I'm a member of a charity and still helping fund for the causes. I haven't had any threats in over four months regarding that."

"Regarding that…any other threats?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"I had a problem with a stalker in LA. The police were looking into it, never found him. I haven't heard from him in over a month. I doubt he has the type of cash to hire a kidnapping." Jade said.

"With all the threats against you, I'd think you would have more protection around you. You could certainly afford it," Batman said.

"There isn't much better protection that cameras following you around half of your life," Jade muttered, her voice barely above a whisper and her eyes looking at her feet. "I'll take care of my own security. I'm not going to let this happen again. Do you need me to stay here any longer?" She asked as Gordon came into the room.

"I'll have two officers take you home. You heard what he said, Ms. Walters…someone may try again."

Jade nodded, "Yeah, I heard. I just want to go home."

"Doesn't make sense, Jade is a millionaire. Who would pay to have her kidnapped, instead of taking her for ransom?" Bruce muttered, laying on his back while throwing a ball up in the air. "And if they have enough money to pay someone to do a high-profile kidnapping…why would they want to ransom her?" He caught the ball, frowned, and threw it up in the air again.

"What do you think about her theory on the slavers?"

"I looked into the governments she had been speaking with against slavery, and the countries she visited. None of them are close to abolishing it. She really wasn't much of a threat compared to other major investors. I'd think they'd rather use their money building up their empire than trying to strike her down and create a martyr. Besides…Mickey's description is exactly who I found trying to break into Wayne Towers."

"Do you think someone will try again?" Alfred asked.

Bruce caught the ball, rolling it in his hand once before throwing it up again, "I'm still trying to figure out why they did it in the first place. First I find Panther trying to break into my building, next it sounds like he paid a low-level thug to kidnap a high-profile target. Only thing I'm thinking of is revenge, someone who wants to get back at her. But she seems likeable enough to the public eye…"

"And to your eye, sir?"

Bruce missed catching the ball, it hit the side of his face and rolled away. "Excuse me?"

"Pretty young girl, is all I'm saying. And you're a nice looking young man. If you wanted to keep an eye on her…well let's just say it wouldn't be too hard to do."

"You want me to try dating a woman I'm trying to protect?"

Alfred shrugged, "There are other ways to go about this, Master Bruce, than hiding in the shadows…such as your dinner party this Friday."

Bruce thought about it for a few minutes, and nodded.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5-Pleasant Surprises**

Hank greeted Jade eagerly. "Some flowers arrived for you, Ms. Walters." Her smile faltered, but she took a look the vase and large bouquet that Hank offered her. "It's pretty big, want me to take it up for you?"

"That'd be great, thank you, Hank. Do you see a card?"

He turned the bouquet until the card was facing her, she took it from between the flowers and opened it so she could read the hand-written note. 'Won't you come into my parlor, little fly? I am having a gathering at my home Friday evening, I already had a formal invitation sent to you, and hope that you will come. Bruce Wayne.'

Jade smiled at his mention of the poem, and found herself blushing a bit. "Hank, has the mail arrived already?" She turned to him as they stepped into the elevator, his face hidden by the large bouquet.

"Yes, Ms. Walters, it's already been taken up for you."

The invitation was there, and Jade looked at it with almost childish excitement. The next piece of mail was the newspaper.

'New Gotham Resident Attacked in Own Home.' She frowned, they managed to make it the front cover…great. 'Jade Walters, daughter of movie director Ruben Walters, was attacked in her new condo in downtown Gotham late Monday evening. The assailant was quickly apprehended and arrested by Gotham City Police Department and has pleaded no contest to the charges. Assailant Mickey Rogers played the part of a moving crew to gain access to Ms. Walters newly purchased home and attacked her once they were alone. Ms. Walters was not seriously harmed in the attack. Jade Walters has stated she has recently moved to Gotham with the plans to open another branch of her designer clothing line 'Marie Clairie' here in the city. While looking into this possibility she states she is still busy running the new company which has its main branch in California. Her previous…'

Jade tossed the paper in the garbage. She didn't need to read about her previous exploits, she had lived through them. Thinking them over even made her smiled, helping her get over the bitter mood of having her life available for everyone to see.

The next few days Jade spent with her father, who was visiting after the incident. He begged her to return to LA, hating that she was so far away and in an obviously dangerous city. She refused, it would take more than being kidnapped to get her to leave Gotham.

Besides, how often do you get invited to party at the Wayne mansion?

"Good evening, Ms. Walters." The valet asked as she exited her corvette.

She handed him the keys, "Thank you."

Another man escorted her up the stairs to the front doors that led into a large foyer. The invitation said it was a formal party. She wore a blue dress that reached her ankles, with silver stilettos and silver gloves that reached her elbows. Though she hadn't been in Gotham long she recognized a lot of the faces of the city's socialites she had met at other functions previously in her short time in Gotham.

After a huge publicity stunt like she had just been through it was hard to reach into the group. Everyone wanted to ask her about it, but no one wanted to be the one to bring it up. She still had a visible cut on her forehead, faded but there nonetheless.

Bruce saw Jade listening to the Mayor, smiling and nodding with perfect practice and patience. "Alfred, how long as she been here?" Bruce asked softly.

"Maybe thirty minutes."

"And you didn't tell me?" Bruce frowned, already walking towards Jade. He put on a large smile as he was noticed, "Excuse me, Mayor, afraid I have to steal your audience for a moment."

Jade smirked as Bruce gave her his arm, she took it and tried not to snicker. "This better be good. I am extremely fascinated by the street repairs happening in the warehouse district."

"I never got a chance to greet you, I'm very happy you were able to come."

Jade sighed. "I wish people wouldn't walk on eggshells around me. I'm not some porcelain doll."

"Of course not. Couldn't be with that tan." Bruce said with a handsome smile, which she had to return.

Jade had expected to make an appearance, and leave after an hour or so. But she ended up being one of the last to leave. Bruce had taken her around and introduced her to many of the guests, coming back to check on her several times. Each time talking, exchanging smiles…even making her blush a few times.

"I'm sure I'll be seeing you around. Thanks for the invitation, Bruce."

"Thank you for coming. I know we'll be seeing each other again."

The black corvette parked in front of the entrance, and Jade went down the steps to meet the valet who had parked it. "Here you go, Ms. Walters. Drive safely."

"Hold up." Bruce said, walking down the steps quickly. "This is your car."

Jade looked at her car, then back to Bruce, and nodded. "Yeah."

"And you drive it."

"Yeah, I've had it for a few years now."

"Automatic transmission?" He asked.

Bruce opened his mouth to clarify that, but she quickly answered, "No it's a manual. And yes, I know the difference."

Bruce shrugged, "I'm sorry, I honestly did not expect you to drive this type of a car. I was thinking maybe a BMW."

She gave him a sly smile as she moved to the drivers door, "You might find out I'm full of surprises."

Bruce stood on the steps for a while to watch her drive away, "Yeah, I would like that." He said to himself.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6-Dinner and Paparazzi**

"Have you done it yet?" Alfred asked while making himself busy straightening up the office Bruce was working in.

"Done what?"

"Called the girl, you fool."

"Excuse me?"

"Please, Master Bruce, I've been with you since you were a boy. I can tell when something has your eye."

"I'm researching the man who kidnapped Jade. Trying to break this down and get it figured out…she may be in serious danger."

"What a perfect excuse to check on her." Alfred said softly, and made his way out of the room.

Bruce checked the clock, it was definitely too late to call. He'd give her a call in the morning and see if she wanted to have lunch, or dinner. Dinner would be better, that way he can work in the cave during the day and get some sleep. Perhaps at the Italian place, or Sushi. Don't all LA girls like Sushi? Should it be a casual restaurant or an elegant one? She definitely looked great in her evening gowns, but something more casual may relax her.

He smiled, and pulled out a pen and paper while calling to Alfred.

Jade was comfortable, walking around her condo in her loose flannel pajamas. She had woken up, stretched a bit, stayed under the warm covers a bit longer than normal before pulling herself out of bed. Not long after getting a cup of coffee her phone rang, it was the front desk of the building.

"Hey, Hank." She answered, stifling a yawn as she did so.

"Good morning, Ms. Walters. I just wanted to let you know there is a beautiful bouquet of flowers on my desk with your name on it. Would you like me to bring them up?"

"More flowers?" Jade muttered. "Yeah, come on up, Hank."

Hank tried not to smirk when he saw Jade in her pajamas. She saw his face from behind the flowers, and a grin spread across her face. "They may look ridiculous, but you can't beat them for comfort."

"No, no. They are very cute. I'm just smiling because my little girl has the same ones. She loves the Little Mermaid, too."

"Ah, for sweet. How old is she?"

"Eight. Will be nine in a few months. I better get back downstairs. Enjoy your day, Ms. Walters."

Jade placed the flowers on the counter next to the others that were just starting to wilt. She pulled out the card, identical to the previous one, and read it. 'Hello Jade, I wanted to again thank you for coming to my party last night and I hope that you had a good time. Enjoy the flowers, I'm sure we'll speak again soon. Your friend, Bruce.'

Jade found herself smiling as she inhaled the sweet aroma of the fresh flowers. Her phone rang once more, she checked the ID and found it an unrecognized number. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Jade. Did you get the flowers?"

Her smile had started to fade, but came back up immediately. "Just did. Thank you, they're very nice."

"You're welcome. I hope this isn't short notice, but I am on my way for some lunch and would like some pleasant company. How would you like to join me?" Bruce asked.

Jade checked the time, lunch? She realized she had slept in a bit but not that much. She hadn't even had breakfast yet.

'Wait…billionaire Bruce Wayne is asking me out for lunch?' she thought suddenly, she probably looked mad with the grin on her face. "Alright, when and where?"

Bruce had picked a nice restaurant located near Wayne Towers. It was a quiet place filled with mostly workers from the surrounding businesses with casual clothes, and this Saturday afternoon it had a good crowd. Jade felt underdressed with jeans and a sweater. But Bruce looked comfortable with khakis and buttoned-shirt. The talk was comfortable and light, a few jokes thrown in.

"A Mercedes? Jade mused as she saw Bruce's car. "I would have pinned you as a Bentley type, or a Rolls."

Bruce smiled, "This is just the weekend car."

"I can imagine the type of toys you have in your garage." Jade nodded.

"Oh can you?"

"I think I could make a few successful guesses."

"Be my guest."

"I'll say you have at least one Roadster, if not two or three. Probably a classic that never touches the road. And maybe a Z3 that does." Bruce nodded and grinned. "I'll say you probably have either a Rolls or a Bentley, too, if not both. And a big car, I want to say Hummer but…maybe just an SUV. A Porsche or two." Jade looked him over, thinking about it. "I bet you don't have a Lamborghini."

Bruce smirked, "Okay this can be interesting, you are making it a game. What are you betting?"

"Just if you have a Lamborghini or not? I'll buy you dinner if I'm right."

Bruce cocked an eyebrow, "You buy me dinner if you win? Shouldn't that be the other way around?"

"A millionaire buying a billionaire dinner sounds fun to me. And I get to drive, too. So am I right?"

Bruce waited a few moments, then nodded. "Yeah, how did you know?"

She gave him a thoughtful look and then finally answered, "You'd look funny in a Lamb." She climbed into her corvette. "So when should I pick you up?"

"Eight sounds good to me."

"See you tonight," she winked.

The next three days Jade had to have her calls screened. Hank had done well and slipped the tabloid under her door so she saw it when she woke up on Monday morning. 'Jade Walters, daughter of Ruben Walters, is no stranger to the spotlight. With previous relationships with A-list celebrities, love triangles, and wild nights she has seen more than her fair share of news coverage. Just recently she had publicly broken up with her fiancé David Xander, CEO of Tempest Incorporated, and with this new information we may see why. Since arriving in Gotham Jade Walters has been seen accompanying Bruce Wayne, owner of Wayne Enterprises, on a number of occasions and even spent an evening at his mansion. Most recently we have received photos of a quiet and romantic dinner the two spent just last night. Now that their romance is out many are wondering just how long had Jade been seeing the young billionaire?"

"Reading that stuff will rot your brain." Bruce said as Alfred read it out loud to him, Bruce glanced at the photo. "At least they got my good side."

Alfred glanced over the paper once more before folding it and putting it under his arm, "Looked like it was a nice evening. So how did it really go?"

Bruce shrugged, "It went well, she's pretty interesting." A smile began to spread across his face, "I think I want to show her my cars."

Jade glanced out her window. On the top floor it was hard to determine exactly how many reporters were still grouped outside, but even one was one too many. She threw down her folder, "How am I supposed to get any work done if I can't leave my…" She growled in frustration. She picked up her phone and called Joan.

"Oh, you have a lot of nerve calling me right now," Joan said the moment she picked up. "Do you want to know how many messages, calls, e-mails, letters, faxes…"

Jade felt a smile come to her lips as Joan vented her frustration. Joan worked for Jade, and was the only person who did that would stand up to her…that was why Joan was her go-to girl. "I'm stressing over the numbers you sent me, Joan." Jade said as soon as Joan took a breath. "What happened at the store?"

"The store in Paris lost a lot of inventory, someone broke in and destroyed most of it last night. We've been able to keep the press out of it, but it was pretty bad. Enrique has it taken care of, but we've taken a loss."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"Oh? Why haven't I told you this? Oh, honey, you better be careful or I may accidentally release your cell phone number on the internet. I just spent five minutes telling you why I haven't gotten ANY work done."

"Joan, you are a genius. Surely you know how to delete spam and old messages and how accidentally some things get lost…ignore it. They have their story, I went on a dinner with a friend I recently made. They are going to make assumptions no matter what we say."

"Yeah. I say I 'accidentally' lost five-hundred requests for confirmation on you dating a billionaire playboy and I'll accidentally lose something that actually deserves my attention."

"Getting back on track." Jade sighed, "Paris, Enrique…"

"Police are looking into it. I'll ask him to contact you directly if anything comes up. Until then I moved some money to help cover-up the loss."

"Good." Jade breathed. "I was thinking, Joan, that you should receive a nice large bonus in your next paycheck…"

"Mmmhmm, but I bet it's not for what I think it is."

"I need a favor. Can you just dig up some of the information on Bruce Wayne?"

"Oh, hell, it is serious, isn't it?" Joan muttered.

"No, Joan, I just want to know a bit more about him. Delegate, do you still have Rosa on staff?"

"Are you kidding? She bailed after you stopped dating Xander, couldn't handle the stress of keeping up with you." Joan laughed. "She should have been there when you were twenty. I got a friend who is good at this, I'll have it faxed to you by the end of the day. Now, princess, think I can get back to doing some real work?"

"Don't forget to give yourself that nice bonus, Joan."

"Oh you'll be lucky if I don't bankrupt you for this one, Jade, you're lucky I like you."

"I'm lucky to have you. Thanks, Joan."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7-Getting to know you**

Jade received a fax in the early evening, and read over the short version of Bruce Wayne's life. His parents died when he was twelve, were murdered in Gotham right in front of him while being mugged at gunpoint. Attended Princeton, and left the states for seven years and was even declared dead until he returned just a few years ago. Since then he had dated several women, a few names that Jade recognized were in the list. The papers regarded him as a shallow playboy.

Jade snorted and shred the paper. She should have known better to try and get a report on someone with a higher profile than hers. It gave her a few facts on him…but didn't tell her what mattered. She told herself to be careful…she couldn't get attached to this man.

"Report is in, Master Bruce." Alfred said, setting a stack of papers on the desk.

"All of this?" Bruce lifted the thick stack and thumbed through it. Tiny newsprint, a few photos, "This is a lot. Do you have the cliff notes?"

Alfred took a seat and retrieved another piece of paper from his pocket. "Jade Walters, born to Ruben Walters who resides in Hollywood and directs movies and does it fairly well. Can't say I've ever seen one, though. Ms. Walters attended private schools, attended Harvard for two years, Yale for one semester, and Berkley for two, no degrees. She and her sister Marie-Claire Walters, acted in a few of their father's movies. Reports say she would have had a promising career but she quit. Also was a model. Most of what's in those papers are reviews on possible romantic possibilities, most of them unconfirmed. A bit sad, her sister died of leukemia when she was fifteen, Ms. Walters was seventeen at the time. Shortly after is where most of the papers following her every move, calling her behavior as self-destructive. Partying, drinking, falling out of cars, car accidents, and a new fling every other day. Goes on like that for about four years, until she is twenty-two. She disappeared from the public eye, rumors of being in rehab, which were denied saying she was traveling abroad. Neither excuse has been verified. She got back in the public eye a year ago. She was seen opposing slavery in 3rd world countries, but the opening her clothing line called 'Marie Clairie' after her late sister and dating Mr. Xander got more news coverage than that. Apparently she's turned her life around. Pretty quiet for the most part…until you showed up, that is."

Bruce found the report of Marie-Claire's death, and thumbed through the pages after that. "It wasn't self-destructive, she was grieving," he muttered. "She's so much more than this. They make her out to be another Hollywood doll, another shallow plastic doll. Alfred, she likes cars and sports. And action movies. She can't stand Hollywood, and hates her life being documented."

"Reporters report what sells the papers, Master Bruce. And she sold quite a few when she was a bit younger, they're hoping she'll sell even more now. I assume they are holding their breath waiting for her to go back to her old shenanigans."

Jade checked her caller ID, assuming the call coming from Joan to have a post-office tantrum over the phone, but smiled a bit at the newly familiar number. "Well, if it isn't the spider." She answered.

"Hello, little fly," said Bruce.

"How are you doing?"

"I'd be a bit more comfortable if there wasn't a news van in front of my home."

Jade's smile and good mood died quickly, "I'm very sorry about this. I have a bad reputation for generating news, I had hoped it had stopped."

"Don't be sorry. How do you feel about making an escape?"

Jade glanced out her window, it was now too dark to make out anything but she wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a few paparazzi still down there. "I tried to take a walk to Starbucks…I made it two steps outside my door before being nearly tackled. I'm not sure if I want to risk it."

"You're security staff is doing well. They haven't gotten into your garage…which is where I am, waiting for you."

'No, bad idea. You have work to do, work that has been piling up since you moved to Gotham and has been put at a standstill since he came into your life. Say no, back out now. Give him the excuse you used to give Xander.' Jade thought, her mind running in circles in the few seconds it took her to answer Bruce, "Give me twenty minutes."

Absolutely giddy as she got dressed and fixed her hair, pulling on a baseball cap backwards as she practically ran to the elevator. She barely stepped into the garage when a black BMW rolled to a stop in front of her. Jade climbed in, unable to hide her smile when she saw her rescuer.

"I'm really sorry about this," she said again, her smile fading even as Bruce kept his up. "You do a few crazy things and they'll follow you forever, hoping you'll do it again. And you're caught in the middle of it."

"I know. And I don't care." Bruce said, leaning towards her and placing his hand on the side of her face as he kissed her. Jade closed her eyes, and breathed deeply through her nose to take in the scent of the car and his cologne. The kiss broke, but their faces stayed close for several moments, "You should duck down in case any are waiting outside." Bruce said softly. Jade nodded, and slid down in the seat until her head was under the window.

Bruce drove her through Gotham, pointing out some interesting sites and buildings, before turning back and taking a back road that apparently wasn't well traveled and ended them behind his mansion.

"Secret entrance, very nice." Jade smiled.

Bruce put a finger to her lips, "Have to keep it quiet." He gave her a wink, and took her hand to start pulling her towards the garage, "I want to show you a few things."

It was dark and a bit chilly inside the garage. Bruce was fumbling on the wall before finding the light switch, and a garage the size of a warehouse lit up before here. Jade let out a low and impressed whistle, "Nice."

Bruce smiled, watching her excitement at his collection. "Most of these, as I'm sure you guessed, don't see the road."

"This is impressive." Jade said, taking it in. There were a lot of cars, his garage was like a parking lot. "My dad collects cars too. Not as many as you have, but more than enough. He started teaching me about cars, making me memorize names and models and values when I was seven. By the time I was a teenager I told him I wanted to be a mechanic." Jade laughed, "He didn't like that. Made me go to charm school, to act like a proper lady."

"Oh?" Bruce said, his eyes sparkling with a suppressed smile. "Did he get his money back?"

Jade tried to frown, but a few moments of looking at his face they both burst out laughing. The laughter died out, Jade's smile slowly fading, "He probably should have. I'm just starting to put some of those lessons to good use. I thought if I disappeared from the public eye long enough they'd ignore me when I came back."

"Well I haven't known you too long, but I can say that you make quite an impression."

Jade blushed at that, and turned to look away from him, "You seem like the type who enjoys his privacy, Bruce. It might be a good idea if you aren't seen with me."

Bruce shook his head and took a few steps to be closer to her, "Listen, I don't care what shows up in the papers. This will die out once they have something more interesting to follow. I'm too interested to see where this may lead."

He placed a finger under her chin to tilt her face up to meet his as he went in for another kiss. Jade's hands went up his arms, feeling firm muscle underneath his shirt. His hand slipping around her waist to rest in the small of her back. A small voice in the back of her head said 'Stop…don't enjoy this, don't let him enjoy this…' but a stronger voice told it to shut the hell up as the kiss deepened.

Alfred, Bruce's butler, drove her back to her home, once again allowing her to bypass the reporters. The underground garage was mostly full of cars, it was after midnight and most of the residents were home and sleeping. Dim lights helped her find her way to the door that would lead up the steps to the elevator then to her condo.

"I've been waiting for you," said a voice in the darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8-Panther Returns**

Jade jumped back at the voice and looked with sudden panic. "You shouldn't do that to people!" She hissed.

Batman stepped from the shadows, but still stayed a distance away. "You may still be in danger, Ms. Walters."

Jade relaxed a bit, but kept her hand on the door. "I know, and I've taken precautions."

"Sneaking out of your apartment for a tryst isn't a smart idea."

Jade opened and closed her mouth a few times, then narrowed her eyes angrily at her rescuer, "If I lock myself away with constant security, they still take away my freedom. I'm being careful, and I appreciate what you did for me. But I do not want a shadow watching my every move, either."

Batman stared at her silently for a few moments, "Just remember my warning."

Jade nodded, and stepped into her building.

Even though she said she didn't want a shadow, Batman was determined to keep an eye on her. On top of a building not far away he watched the lights of her condo come on. First thing she did was lock her door and set her security code. "Good girl." He muttered. He saw her enter her bedroom, and as if she knew he was still watching, closed her curtains so she could change. Not long after he saw her to back into the living room, in pretty pink flannel pajamas, to shut the lights off, and went through the condo to do the same in all the rooms.

There was the sound of a mechanical voice chuckling behind him, "Who else knew that Batman was a peeping Tom?"

Batman turned quickly to face Panther. "What do you know about this?"

Panther's posture made him look offended, "Me? Not a damn thing. Well, just what I read in the papers." Batman took a defensive step forward, and Panther took two quick steps back, "Hey! I'm just here to talk, big guy. I would rather be getting into Wayne Enterprises, but it seems they've adjusted their security systems since the last time we met. Thanks, by the way. You've ruined my whole operation."

"You're welcome. Tell me why you hired Mickey to kidnap Jade."

"Seriously, wasn't me," Panther said. "I don't know her, don't care to know her. And she can't get me what I need. I'm here looking for information, and with the new obstacle I'm looking for help. I want to trust you, but I don't. And I know you don't trust me."

"I don't take kindly to common criminals."

Panther scoffed in his mechanical voice, "Common? Man, did you see what I did? You cannot tell me I'm common."

"Only thing that sets you apart is that you got away last time."

Panther waved their hand in impatience, "And I'll get away this time, too. But not before giving you a taste of what I seek. Perhaps if you knew what I was looking for, you may see I'm no criminal, just someone looking for salvation and justice. Wayne Biotech once employed a scientist, who created a process that could cure and prevent all diseases for those who survived it. But it had a nasty side affect...can you take a guess at why I'm interested?"

"You survived this process?"

Panther nodded, "And the nasty side affect is what I am today. But that same process has killed more than it has saved." Batman realized that he was no longer ready to attack Panther, but respectfully listening to the intruder. Panther was aware of this, and eager to finish what he wanted to say before Batman changed his mind. "Someone has stolen this experiment. I don't have much information, but I believe he also worked with Wayne Enterprises at least at some point to gain access to it. The original creator may have truly wanted to help and save lives, but this man is using it to create and employ mercenaries. Super-strong, fast, and agile mercenaries. The process was always referred to as Cleansing. And the man now using this technology is named Henry Bodega…maybe."

"Maybe?"

Panther shrugged, "I doubt I have his real name. I'm clueless, Batman, but I was hoping for something at Wayne Enterprises. My plan was to leave a message for the manager, Mr. Fox, to rattle his cage a bit by breaking into his office. But if we can leave civilians out of it, all the better."

"I still don't know what this has to do with Jade."

Panther shook there head, "Okay, third and last time I'm saying this, I don't know a damn thing about her."

"The man who was paid to abduct her gave the police your description."

Panther swore, "There are dozens of us…maybe a few hundred. We always dress alike, can't tell one from the other half the time. I don't know why she would be a target."

"Not good enough," Batman said in a low voice.

"Worst case scenario, she pissed someone off who wants her gone. Best case scenario…she was a target to alert me to the presence of other Panthers in the area…to rattle _my_ cage. Those are my best two guesses." Panther tilted his head a bit and let out a mechanical whistle, "Looks like your view just got a bit better."

Batman turned to see Jade's apartment was still dark, and when he turned back Panther was gone.

Bruce was bothered by what Panther had told him. That Wayne Biotech had designed a procedure to create someone like Panther, and it was stolen and being put to use. And that Panther had hoped to get this information from Lucius Fox, who managed Wayne Enterprises. His friend being contacted by Panther…it would be unacceptable to bring him into this. And that there could be more of these super-soldiers in Gotham.

Even Panther admitted to only knowing so much, and Bruce felt he was holding back more information. Perhaps information that would reveal too much about the mysterious man.

But he believed if he didn't find this information, Panther would find another source within Wayne Enterprises.

But one thing he knew for sure. Jade had been a target for an assassin. He looked back at her dark condo, wondering why anyone would want to harm someone like her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9-Boom**

"Honey, my phone is ringing nonstop. Every magazine that I know of wants to know what is going on, dying for exclusive news straight from the source. You and Mr. Wayne are keeping it quiet, and until they are satisfied they aren't going to stop hounding us." Joan said, and Jade could hear her tapping her pencil in her aggravated state.

"They are all wolves, Joan, they'll never be satisfied." Jade sighed. "We're friends, getting along great."

"Friends who disappear together for hours almost every day the past month…and you haven't sent me any new designs in two weeks, if you want to have…"

"Joan, you know how I do business. I do it in my own way, and I take my time. It isn't like Marie-Clairie is going to go under if I procrastinate a bit. And why do I have to keep reminding you to ignore the press?"

"Then satisfy me. Give me something, a _promise_ that you'll decide on a location for a Gotham store and get a line-up ready for the fashion show."

There was a knock on her door and Jade grinned, "I have to go, Joan. Keep up the good work."

Jade opened the door and frowned, "You always make me feel underdressed."

Bruce smiled and looked down at his tailored suit, and at Jade's faded jeans and t-shirt, "You look the best I have ever seen you. If you change it would be a crime."

Jade finally smiled, and pulled him into her condo. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll grab some drinks. Hope you aren't claustrophobic."

Bruce looked around the place. Compared to his home, Jade's condo was tiny. But the living room was large and comfortable, casually furnished with a few suede couches and overstuffed chair, a large plasma TV hung on the wall between two windows, and in the corner was a small bar which was mostly empty. He could see into the dining room where a small table with four chairs.

"I should have added that you had to wear something…grungy." Jade said, stepping from the bar to hand him a drink.

Bruce took the drink with one hand and placed the other around her waist to pull her in for a kiss. He had lost another bet with her, while watching a football game. She had not only guessed who would win, but was almost right on the finishing score. What she got was have her cook him dinner. He took it with a laugh, but had honestly dreaded how good her cooking skills were, that is if she had any. But since walking into the condo the smell coming from the kitchen was actually quite pleasant. "Yeah, well I've done my research and I'm ready to take you on for tonight's game."

Jade grinned, "What's the wager?"

"I take you…on a Sunday drive in the Z3, top down…no matter how cold it is."

"Okay, I win…we go to the hockey game on Saturday."

"Hockey game?"

"Afternoon college game. And you have to wear a jersey for my team."

"Oh? You have a team? Which one?"

"The Panthers, of course." She laughed.

Bruce's smile faltered a bit at the mention of Panthers, but he caught it quickly, "I don't think I have one…."

"Oh, I'll get you one, don't worry. We have a few minutes before the chicken is done. Plenty of time for the grand tour." She took his hand, and started leading him through her home.

While the condo wasn't small, it wasn't huge either. She had a small office where she kept a messy desk and computer, and a few filing cabinets. Another bedroom which held most of her clothes, some exercise equipment, and boxes that she never got around to unpacking. "So this must be your bedroom." Bruce said with a sly smile, now leading her towards it. "And where you hide your Disney pajamas?"

"Fine, laugh all you want." Jade said, and the timer from the kitchen went off. She pulled her hand from his grasp to rush back to the kitchen.

After dinner Bruce lost his tie and jacket to sit on the couch to watch the football game. His arm around Jade's shoulders when he could manage it, but the girl loved her football and was often bouncing up and down or even jumping off the seat screaming, "Go, go, go!" at the TV.

"You lost and you hate it, admit it." Bruce said with a relaxed smile, obviously pleased.

Jade tried not to pout, "So what is the weather going to be like on Sunday?"

"Freezing."

She crossed her arms and tried to frown at him, but her smile couldn't be hidden. He tried to lean in for a kiss, but she teasingly turned her head before pulling him in.

"I have to say, you have some strange decorations." Bruce said as he walked around her living room while she fixed them another pair of drinks.

Jade was in the corner pouring a drink. She turned to see what he was looking at. "That's not a decoration, that's a toy." She said, stepping up behind him.

He was looking at twin blades that were sitting on a low table pressed against the wall. She handed him her drink to hold, and she picked one up to remove it from its scabbard. "My father let me join the fencing team at school. Made me quit it, too, when I got too into it. These two I picked up in Japan about five years ago, my favorite. Wakizashi. It's even fun to say."

"Favorites? So you have more."

She smiled and blushed, "I collect swords. Most of them are in storage in Hollywood."

She replaced the blade and set it next to its twin. "So, like, antique swords?"

She shook her head, "No, not so much. I usually pick the ones that are pretty and sharp." Bruce gave her a questioning look until her face broke out in a smile.

"Is this you?" He asked, pointing to a picture frame.

Jade nodded, it was a picture of two little girls with sparkling eyes and grins and long blonde hair. "Me and my sister, Marie." Jade hadn't mentioned her sister at all to Bruce, she barely spoke of it. Losing her sister had nearly destroyed her, though talking about it no longer hurt like it once did. "She was two years younger than me, she died when she was just fifteen."

"I'm sorry." Bruce said softly.

"It was over ten years ago, nothing to be sorry about. I made my peace years ago." She took her drink from his hand, and linked her fingers with his, "So…since I already have the tickets…and the jersey…how about a nice afternoon of watching an exciting game of hockey?"

Bruce pulled her close, "That doesn't seem fair…seeing as I won and you lost."

She gave him a teasing smile, "I can always call on another sexy man to sit next to me. Say…that really cute musician who called me up last night…" Bruce kissed her quickly. "I bet I could get guy who acted in the movie we saw last night to go." Bruce smiled, and kissed her again and started leading her to the couch. "Oh, I know, I'll ask a professional athlete, maybe a baseball player…"

"Why are you so cruel to me?"

They both set their drinks down, Bruce taking her waist in both hands, and Jade putting her arms around his neck, "And I bet I could even buy him a hot dog."

He leaned into her to kiss her until they fell on the couch, "Okay, I'll go."

Jade ran her hand through his hair, "I knew you'd see it my way."

Bruce met her sparkling eyes, and met her lips as her phone rang. They paused, and Jade groaned, "The answering machine will get it," and pulled him into the kiss.

"Oh! I know you aren't ignoring my calls!" Joan's voice said. Jade let her head fall back and frown. "Girl, you better get off your scrawny butt and _pick_ up your phone!"

"That's Joan?" Bruce asked.

"That's Joan," Jade nodded, "Give me two minutes."

"Jade Walters, I will come over there and _make_ you…"

Jade grabbed the phone and shut off the answering machine at the same time, "Make me what, Joan?"

"Thank god, you had me scared, girl." Joan said in a shaky breath.

Bruce watched as Jade's face fell, and turned her back to him. "What? You're not…Joan, take a deep breath."

"It's all gone, Jade. It's still on fire, I can feel the heat from here." Joan said, her tough and angry act all gone. "When I got off the phone with you someone said they put a bomb in the store. I called 911, the store and got them out of there…and boom. They not only got Marie-Clairie, but the explosion caused damage to half the shops on the strip, destroyed the ones on either side. I just got another call saying to warn you."

"Warn me of what?" Jade asked softly.

"That's it. Just warn you. With…with what's happened, Jade, when you didn't answer I almost had a heart attack."

"Everything is going to be okay, Joan."

"I think I'm going to be sick, Jade." Joan said, and Jade realized she was crying.

Cold anger filled Jade, "No you aren't, Joan."

"I am, Jade, I…I can't handle this alone."

Whenever Joan had said anything like that, it was always with annoyance over something Jade had overlooked and Jade's answer was suck it up and live with it…but not like this. "And you won't have to. I'll leave tonight."

"You will?" Joan said, her voice both amazed and grateful.

"Yes. Go home, take a bath, relax. We'll meet tomorrow at the office, come in whenever you feel like it."

"I can't…you don't have to, Jade, I can do this…" Joan said with her shaky voice.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Jade hung up the phone, and leaned against her counter with her head in her hands. Warm hands rested on her shoulders, "What's wrong?"

Jade turned and gave Bruce an apologetic look, "I have to go to LA. Something has come up, something I should be there for."

"Is it serious?"

"If it wasn't I wouldn't be going. Nothing you have to worry about. But I have to get ready to leave tonight."

Bruce's first thought was how he would watch out for her when she was on the other side of the country. His next thought was how in the past month he hadn't considered his time with her to be connected with his protecting her as Batman. And his last thought was…he was going to miss her. "Will you be gone long?"

She gave him a small smile, "At least until next week. Which means I'll miss our dates. I'm sorry, Bruce…I need to pack."

He nodded, "Alright. Call me when you land, no matter how late."

"I'm not going to call you in the middle of the night, I'll wake up Alfred," she laughed. "I'll call you tomorrow night." He gave her a nod as she walked him to the door.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10-Working Overtime**

Leaning against the door after Bruce left Jade took a few deep breaths, her happy mood from a nice evening was gone, nothing but a memory already as the anger of what had happened in LA settled deep in her chest making her want to scream.

Jade was at her LA office shortly after landing. She had slept on the plane, and was ready to get a head start on the work that was piled up on her own desk and Joan's.

Joan's desk phone rang, and Jade glanced at the clock to see it was only four in the morning Pacific time. She let it ring several times before picking it up, "Marie-Clairie." She answered.

"Ms. Walters?" Said a mechanical voice on the other end.

The anger Jade had felt turned to icy fear, "Who is this?"

"A friend. I have some important information that may save your life."

"What do you mean?"

"It won't stop until you are ruined. He'll make you beg to take you back."

"I know who you work for. Tell that son of a bitch…" The line went dead, and with a shaky hand Jade replaced the receiver.

Joan came into the office a little before 9, and looked in amazement at her clean desk. "Did I get fired?"

Jade looked up at her with a tired face, "Huh?"

"You cleaned out my desk…"

Jade gave her a half-smile, "I did. We have these amazing new inventions, called filing cabinets."

Joan looked at her in horror, "Oh I am never going to find anything again…"

Jade stifled a yawn, "Whine all you want, you were living in chaos. I don't know how you could live without me."

Joan's jaw dropped, then she started laughing. "Girl, you look like death. How long have you been here?"

"Since I got off the plane at three this morning."

"Oh…hell no."

"Yup." Jade leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes with a bit of a smile, "I've had enough on my mind to keep me awake, but now that you are here I'm getting pretty tired."

Joan dropped into a chair and rolled over to her, "Okay, time to spill. What's going on? You are thinking about him, aren't you?"

Jade was indeed thinking about something as her tired face lifted a bit with an energetic and even a bit devilish smile she was so known for, "It's too early to talk about it."

"Oh, he has you addicted to him."

"Business is all I'm thinking about, Joan. I called the security company. We're getting two extra guards on duty, 24-7, here at the office."

Joan's smile faded, "You think that's necessary?"

Jade nodded, "I'm not taking any chances. This is something personal against me. Just wish I had an idea of what the hell I did to piss them off enough to actually bomb half the designer shops in Hollywood."

"What about the stores in Miami and Las Vegas?"

"Also 24-7 security guards. The Las Vegas store is in a mall, so that was already available. I want to shop around security systems." Jade rubbed her eyes, "I have a meeting with the news and police at noon. And I'm meeting with the store's employees after that. If I crash on the couch will you wake me up in two hours?"

"Jade…" Joan looked once again at the desk and her exhausted boss, and laughed, "Who the hell knew you could do actual work?"

Jade gave her a small smile, "You have to keep it a secret, or else people may get suspicious. Two hours, Joan."

"Got it, girl."

Once Jade stretched out on the couch she was positive she would never be able to find a comfortable position to sleep in, but once she closed her eyes she drifted off immediately. "Come on, Marie Clairie, it's going to be okay. Please don't cry, sis."

Jade was back in the worst year of her life, watching her sister deteriorate in front of her. Dabbing at the blood that was leaking out of her baby sister's nose, and wiping away the tears of pain. "It hurts, Jay-Wah. I just want it to end."

Jade never let her sister see her cry, she was always by her side through the chemotherapy, holding her hand at every doctors visit. She always managed a smile and tried to keep Marie's spirits up, "The bone marrow transplant is going to work. We're going to beat this thing, just like we beat the crap out of Donnie Little for throwing mud at us."

Marie grasped at Jade's hand, "Please, stay with me until I fall asleep. I…I don't want to be alone."

Jade nodded, "And I'll be here when you wake up."

"Time to wake up, Princess." Marie said. "Come on, girl, you are drooling on my couch!"

Jade jolted awake as Joan shook her. Jade brought her hand to her head as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the couch, "What time is it?"

"Just a bit before eleven. I'll take you to my house so you can grab a shower and change before you have your meeting."

Jade felt the lingering dream fade, "Thanks, Joan," she sighed. Absolutely disappointed and sad that it had been a dream, the memory of her sister being alive, even sick, was hard to let go of.

"Ms. Walters, what can you tell us about what happened last night?"

"The police have told me it's too early to expect anything. They are still running their investigation, and they will release information once it becomes available. I'm just grateful no one was in the store, that no one was hurt."

"But it was easily millions of dollars worth of damage, not just to your store but to the whole block."

Jade nodded, "Yes, but that is what we have insurance for. Everything that was damaged can be replaced. Whoever did this got lucky, and I hope that the police find them quickly to make sure that they can't do this again. There could have easily been people on the street, in the stores…we are fortunate that no one was hurt, let alone killed."

"How is your store in Gotham doing?"

"I'm still looking into possible locations, but I definitely want to open a store there as soon as I find the right place."

"What can we expect next from your Marie-Clairie collection?"

"I'm working on some possible designs, it's all too soon. What I plan to do is once I have a location in Gotham is release a large selection I've been saving. Until then consumers will still see random new pieces in my stores every other week. Expect a whole new line-up within the next few months, I hope."

"Very exciting. Thank you so much for your time, Ms. Walters."

Fifteen employees from the store were ushered into Joan's office shortly after the press left. "Is this everyone, Marko?" Jade asked the stores manager.

"Yes, Jade."

Jade stretched and leaned back in her chair, "Good afternoon. Please excuse me, but I'm running on just a few hours of sleep." Jade yawned. "Reason I wanted to meet with all of you is to let you know personally I truly appreciate you, and have always received great remarks from customers that have come from the store. If I had my way we'd have another store up and running today so you can keep doing what you do best. But it's going to be a few months, at least. But I don't want to lose fifteen experienced employees either." Jade covered her mouth as another yawn crept up. "Excuse me. So, what I plan to do is keep you employed under Marie-Clairie. You won't have to work, won't have to come into the office. Your paychecks will be mailed to you. And when our new store opens, you can go right back to doing what you were doing if you wish. I suspect some of you will probably take up another job while this is going, and if you decide not to return, I understand." Jade glanced around, most of the employees were young women who looked all too happy to get paid for doing nothing. "That being said, I have a few things I also need to ask of you. Whatever we say in this room, I promise I won't repeat. If you don't want to say it to your fellow employees you can come to me alone, but it's very important that you speak up. Has anyone seen anyone strange around the store? Do any of you know if anyone other than employees were given access to the backroom?" Jade glanced around, and saw a few uncomfortable faces but no one spoke. She thought of trying to scare them into talking, telling them that someone was out to get her…possibly kill her…but she didn't know these people. She had little doubt that they would sell anything personal she said to a tabloid. "Alright. Marko, of course you'll still be managing the store. Joan will probably want you to be here in the office and hear your input for the new store. You'll make sure to keep everyone else informed about what's going on?"

Marko nodded, "Of course, Jade."

Jade gave them a smile, "Thank you, everyone. I'll be at the office the rest of the day if you have any concerns."

Joan watched as her office cleared out, "The rest of the day? You've done more work today that I've seen you do the past year."

Jade grimaced as she sipped cold coffee, "I do plenty of work at home, Joan."

Joan smirked, "Sure…between…"

Jade looked up as one of the employees lingered, looking at her shyly before looking at the door. Jade gave her a small smile, "Don't mind Joan, sweetie, she likes to remind me how much I need her."

The girl looked a bit scared, and man was she young. She couldn't be a day over eighteen. "Ms. Walters, can I speak to you a minute?"

Jade handed Joan her coffee cup, "Give us a few minutes?"

"Oh I'll give you a few minutes but you are getting your own damn coffee, princess."

The young girl looked positively horrified at what Joan said, and Jade laughed as she sat the coffee cup down. "Sit down. What's your name?"

The girl moved to the chair that sat in front of the desk, "I'm Shirley. Shirley Jones."

"Shirley, call me Jade. How can I help you?"

"I only started working at your store a few weeks ago. Part time, Wednesdays to Saturdays, in the evenings."

Jade nodded, "You were there last night?"

"Yes. The night it happened, there was someone strange a bit before it got dark…right when I clocked in. I was watching him, because it looked like he was trying to find something to steal…but he was dressed really nice."

"Do you remember what he looked like?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Blonde hair, Fuahawk. About six feet, probably a bit taller. He looked like he was built well, no gut, ya know? A good looking guy. He noticed me watching him, and he tried to talk to me but I was trying to help another customer. By the time I had finished helping the customer he was gone." Shirley took a deep breath. "I told the police this, too. Last night Joan called and said get out of the store, that we had received a bomb threat, we were closing. Me and Bambi." Jade blinked, she had a girl named Bambi working at her store? "The store was empty, we were just cleaning up. Had already locked the safe. Bambi and I went through the front door and ran across the street. I turned, and I saw…" Shirely looked Jade in the eyes for the first time. "You probably are going to think I've been in Hollywood too long, but I saw…a ninja on the roof of the store. Dressed all in black, but with green eyes. The only reason I didn't think it was just my eyes playing a trick on me was that it jumped off the roof, right over the street and onto the other building across the street."

"Did you tell the police this?" Jade asked softly.

Shirley shook her head. "No. I asked Bambi if she saw it, she didn't. I grabbed her hand and I tried to follow them…I don't know why. Probably a good thing, because a minute later the store exploded and the glass flew all the way across the street where we had been." Shirley wrung her hands and looked at the floor, "Hearing myself say it…sounds crazy. Impossible. But I know I saw _something_, Ms. Walters."

"Call me, Jade, sweetie." Jade said. "I believe you, Shirley. And I think you were right to keep it from the police, they wouldn't be as open-minded as me."

Shirley narrowed her eyes at Jade, "You really do believe me, don't you?"

Jade gave her a small smile, "I've been living in Gotham, being there will make you believe that a lot of crazy things can happen. A ninja jumping across rooftops isn't that much of a stretch."

Shirley seemed to relax immediately, "Maybe I should have gone to college in Gotham instead. Crazy idea, coming out here."

"Oh? Where did you used to live?"

"I grew up in Nebraska. I moved out here just to go to college."

"Just to go to college?"

Shirley grinned and nodded. "Most girls my age out here are trying to become actresses. I'm just trying to be a lawyer."

Jade laughed, "That is very awesome. Shirley, do you plan on coming back to work for me in a few months?"

Shirley's grin faded a bit, "I'd really like to. I really did enjoy the past few weeks, but I have two other part time jobs, and I'll probably get another one. I guess I'll have to see how well it goes."

"You remember Joan, the woman who likes to pretend I work for her, right?" Shirley nodded. "She's my everything. My friend, spokeswoman, manager, and assistant. I keep her so busy, she needs her own assistant. She recently lost one, and has been looking for some help. Hours are negotiable."

Shirley blushed madly, "Are you serious? Working here in your office?"

"It might be worth trying. It is a bit more demanding than the store, but the pay is much better. You get hazard pay for working with Joan."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11-Daddy Dearest**

Jade went back to the couch, tempted to fall back asleep until the office closed for the day…which would give her about two hours. "Why did you go and do that?" Joan asked.

Jade sighed, and rolled over on the couch to face Joan. "What?"

"Hire that little girl. She is going to break like the last two people I had helping me."

"I have a good feeling about her. Just ease her into it, if I'm wrong I don't want her to leave the company with a bad taste in her mouth."

"Jade…I question your charity sometimes."

Jade thought about Shirley, the young girl scared and confused…but brave enough to face her. Her eyes gave the look of pure innocence and truth. "She reminds me of Marie." Joan's face softened as she looked at Jade. "Shirley is working to keep herself in college. Find out how badly she's in debt. What her tuition is. Make sure she at least gets a few good paychecks, alright? If I'm right, in a few years she'll graduate and might even continue working for me."

"Lord knows you could use another lawyer."

"If I'm wrong, we've given a young girl enough money to have a sweet party." Jade rolled over on the couch again, "Now let me get some sleep."

Jade's cell phone rang in her pocket, she groaned as she dug it out, "Hello?"

"Hey, how are you doing?"

Jade mentally slapped herself, "Hey! Sorry I didn't call you sooner, I was so busy."

"Sounds like it," Bruce said, "You sound tired."

"I can count how many hours of sleep I've had on one hand." Jade craned her neck to see Joan looking happily over her, "Go away."

"What?" Bruce asked.

"Oh…no, I'm sorry, not you. Hold on." Jade gave Joan a pleading look until she left. "Sorry, had an audience. How are you?"

"I'm feeling a lot better now that I can talk to you." Jade felt like she would melt into the couch. "I heard about what happened over there. Why didn't you tell me before you left?"

"Oh, it's just business stuff. Boring, really."

"Having your store blown up isn't business and not that boring, either," he said in a serious voice.

Jade closed her eyes, even though just last night she had been in his arms it felt like it had been weeks. Hearing his voice was making her miss him, something she had been too busy to do throughout the day to truly do. "You're right. It's absolutely chaotic. But I didn't want you to worry about it."

Bruce frowned into the phone, "Please don't pretend that you are cool and collected about what happened. After what happened last month…"

"Bruce, I'm not pretending anything. Really, I'm just too tired to be angry about it right now. Just let me worry about what's happening in LA."

"I'm worried about you."

Jade opened her eyes, hearing the sincerity in his voice. "I promise, you don't have to worry about me."

There was a long silence before Bruce asked, "When are you coming back?"

"In a couple of days. I figure I should visit…" Jade craned her neck as Joan walked back in. "I know, I'm in your office trying to sleep on _your_ couch but I still own this company and building, Joan."

"Phone for you." Joan said seriously, not even taking a chance to snap back.

"I'm on the phone already…"

"It's Mr. Walters."

"Oh…"

Joan would talk back to Jade, snap at her and throw a tantrum, argue with her and even be rude…and Jade absolutely loved her for it. But Joan was terrified of Ruben Walters.

"Bruce…I have to go…"

"Something wrong?"

"You aren't the only person I forgot to call today. My dad must have found out I'm in town. I'll call you back once I get to my hotel."

Jade was surprised how rubbery her legs felt as she went to the desk phone. "Marie Clairie's, Jade Walters speaking." She said lightly.

"Cute." Ruben snapped. "You are a secretary now?"

Jade yawned, and let her forehead fall onto the desk. "I was earlier this morning. Nice to talk to you too, Dad."

"I was on the set of my new movie today. Imagine my surprise when one of my actors came up and asked me if I wanted to come to dinner with him and his fiancé, and that I should bring my daughter. And imagine my embarrassment when I tell him you are now living in Gotham…and he sets me right."

"Do you even know why I am in LA, Dad?"

"I got the bullet-points, why the _hell_ didn't you call me?"

"I was going to, Dad, but I didn't have time."

"You'll have time over dinner tonight. It's at seven."

"Sorry, I can't, I'm beat…"

"Dinner with Brad Stigler and his fiancé Jennifer Garcia, you can't pass this up. It's good for you."

"Are you kidding? That's awkward for me, I used to date him."

"Really?" Ruben said, pausing a long time. "I thought you dated his brother, Thomas?"

Jade let a little laugh escape, "That's right. I dated Thomas publicly…Brad was something on the side."

Ruben let out a disgusted sound, "My god, how many more of your old boyfriends am I not aware of?"

"Oh, please, you did all you could to ignore what I was doing."

"Old boyfriend or not, we have reservations."

"I'm dead on my feet, Dad."

"Don't embarrass me like this…"

Jade sighed, "Seven, you said?"

"I'll pick you up at six."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12-Dinner and a Panic Attack**

Joan took Jade to her hotel, and let her catch some sleep while she went out to get her appropriate clothes to wear to dinner. Jade had only packed a few pairs of jeans and t-shirts, nothing suitable to attend dinner with her father or his colleagues.

The dinner wasn't awkward…for the most part. Seeing Brad's fiancé in an evening gown while eight months pregnant took her by surprise. "You look stunning, Jen. Oh, you are just glowing." Ruben said across the table.

"Thank you." Jen smiled, taking Brad's hand while putting her other on the top of her bulging belly.

"Such an exciting time." Ruben grinned, "I'm waiting for some grandchildren, myself."

Jade froze as her eyes rolled over to her father, "Wow, I hope you have a few other kids out there, or you may be out of luck."

"I'm sure you don't mean that, Jade." Brad said, smiling handsomely. Jade returned the smile and drained her glass of wine. "Just need to find the right person." He looked over at his fiancé with a warm smile.

"I hear you've been seeing someone, Jade. Where is he?" Jennifer asked, prying her eyes from Brad.

All eyes on her, she carefully set the empty wine glass down. "No idea what you are talking about."

Brad scoffed, "Come on, we're all friends here."

"Jade?" Ruben raised his eyebrows.

Jade gave them a knowing smile, "I've been living in Gotham and loving it. All the papers are doing are blowing a friendship out of proportion."

"Ah, you never used to be so secretive." Brad grinned and rubbed his shoe against hers under the table.

She raised her eyebrows at him and tucked her feet under her chair, "Because I finally learned the worth of having secrets and the joy of privacy." She waved her hand as if to clear the air, "All I do now is work on my clothing line. Boring stuff. I'm so much more interested in catching up. I haven't seen you in…what, seven years, Brad?"

Brad sat a bit straighter, "Sounds about right."

"Oh, where did you two originally meet?" Jennifer asked excitedly.

Brad turned to her, "At a premiere…can't even remember which one."

Jade leaned back a bit, and nodded. "Yeah, me either."

"Nothing exciting happened, just met each other. I was just doing odd roles, then. She ended up introducing me to Ruben, here."

Jade smiled, mentally filling in the details he was leaving out on purpose in front of her father and his fiancé.

"Oh, there he is!" Ruben said, standing up and waving at someone. He flagged down a waitress and demanded another chair to be delivered to their table.

"Were you expecting someone else, Dad?" Jade asked. She really didn't want to have another ex-boyfriend at the table. And then Xander came into her line of sight. "Oh hell…time to order the hard liquor now," she breathed.

David shook hands with her father, then Brad, and then Jennifer. He took the chair that was next to Jade and took her hand, "Jade, you look stunning."

Jade pulled her hand back, "Hair plugs are growing in nicely, David," she said, then turned to her father and whispered in his ear, "What in the hell is he doing here?"

"He still talks about you all the time, honey. He begged me to get you two together again."

"Jade, I really need to talk to you," David said, leaning towards her.

Brad and Jen both looked uncomfortable watching Jade and David, and who would blame them? David looked pathetic, his hair disheveled and dark rings under his eyes. Jade looked angry and disgusted.

"David, we've talked enough. Let's have a few drinks and go home in separate cars to separate area codes," Jade said.

David leaned in and whispered, "Someone asked me to give you this."

Jade felt him pressing something against her leg, and she reached down to take a piece of paper. "Dad, David and I are going to go outside for some privacy and talk."

All the paper had on it was the head of a black panther. David paced back and forth wildly in the parking lot, the only private place they had. "They've been calling me…I swear they are following me. I can't sleep, it's making me sick! What the hell did you get me into! I told you going overseas was a bad fucking idea!"

"You said you admired my humanitarian efforts, you ass," Jade muttered.

"I think they've infiltrated my company. Our stocks are going down…the business is starting to fail…"

"I'm sure that's just your excellent managing doing that, David. These people aren't going to personally attack you, unfortunately."

"But I helped you!" He panicked, looking at her with wide eyes. "I know everything! I'll go public! I'll take you all down with me!"

Jade grabbed him by the front of the shirt, "I am going to fix this, David. All you are going to do is hold yourself together and wait it out. You do something stupid and go public, they will kill you. I may even help them."

She let him go, and he fell back. "How are you going to fix this?"

"I'm working on it, David. That's all you need to know," Jade answered. "We're going to survive this, I promise."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13-Building a Store**

"Keep me awake until I reach my hotel room." Jade said into her phone as she stepped into the elevator.

"Can't believe you went out after getting no sleep." Bruce said softly, with a bit of amusement.

"My father is pretty persuasive."

"How was dinner?"

Jade laughed, "Oh, everything I told you it would be, and then some. I've blocked out most of it, maybe even slept through some of it. Could have been pretty fun if you were there."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and if we ditched the others. Would have been perfect."

"Oh?" Bruce said, a smile spreading on his lips.

"Yeah. See, I have this really nice penthouse suite." Jade said, stepping out of the elevator and getting ready to enter her room. "It sounded like a good idea when I got it, but…" She opened the door and turned on the lights to the exquisitely decorated, but horribly lonely, hotel room, "It's pretty boring without someone to share it with."

Bruce raised his hand to tell his guest he would be just one more minute, "Another good reason to return home quickly?"

Jade kicked her shoes off, and made her way to the bed. "No kidding. Before I fall asleep, which will be any minute now, I just want you to know I'm laying in a king sized bed, still dressed for dinner, and wishing you were here."

Bruce turned to the window, "Believe me, you have a picture in my head that will probably drive me crazy."

Jade smiled and sighed, "Good. Goodnight, Bruce."

"Goodnight, Jade."

Bruce turned to Lucius and gave him a little shrug, "Sorry."

Lucius Fox gave him a knowing smile and lifted his drink to his lips, "Nothing to be sorry for, Bruce. How is Ms. Walters, if I may ask?" Lucius took a sip of his drink and looked politely at Bruce.

"Tired," Bruce laughed, "Lucius, I want to thank you again for…"

Lucius shook his head, "No, I'm glad we have a chance to talk. I've been pulling in some overtime, looking into what you asked me personally. I'm sorry it took so long, but I was trying to keep it quiet." Bruce leaned forward and nodded. "The process was indeed designed by Wayne Biotech scientists and doctors, a whole team. Called it Immuno-Tempering. It was run by Dr. Marcus Robinson, who's no longer with us. After a lot of testing, it was canceled. The procedure too intense for most subjects, minimal results survived. It was never cleared for human testing."

"Where is Dr. Robinson now?"

"He died. Shortly after the project was terminated. Heart attack."

"Did you find anything about a Henry Bodega?"

Lucius shook his head, "Nothing, not even close." Lucius leaned forward slightly, "The procedure would cost over a million dollars to do on a human subject. They never got past lab rats. How reliable is our source?"

Bruce frowned, "I found him trying to break into your office."

Lucius raised his eyebrows, "My office? Just how did they get past security?"

"Climbed the windows. I don't know, I don't trust this person. But what they can do…something isn't right."

"If they successfully survived the procedure, they are damned lucky. But to do this in order to employ people for certain shady things…the costs would outweigh the rewards."

"Just for the sake of asking, any idea who would have stolen the experiment?"

Lucius handed over his file, "Take a look. Most of the people that were with the project aren't with Wayne Enterprises at all anymore. I respect what you are doing, Bruce, but it would take me another month to look through all of those names and see if any have been running an illegal super-soldier factory."

Jade returned to Gotham on Monday afternoon. She was honestly surprised how much she had gotten done in LA, but was eagerly ready to put it on hold now that she was home.

"Joan, I barely stepped into my condo and you are calling me?"

"Oh, I'm just reminding you of what we talked about this morning."

Jade made a face and threw her bags on her bed, "Spread the word to the modeling agencies. I'll meet with the auditorium manager later this week to get an evening booked."

"No, no, no! You find a store location first. We have a few months to let the manufacturers start pulling out the new designs…once you release them."

"I'll send you them tomorrow, you'll have them Wednesday. Promise. Call me once you receive them. I have to get ready…"

"I know…I know, your date with Mr. Wayne. You know, for how tight-lipped you are about what's going on I'm starting to think you really like this guy."

Jade sighed, "I do, Joan. Are you happy, now? I really like this guy."

"I'll be damned. I better be a bridesmaid."

Jade laughed, much too loudly, "Oh, please."

"Jade, are you listening to yourself? Ah, hell. Why do I bother? Have fun, girl."

An hour later Hank called up to tell her Bruce was waiting outside for her. Jade thanked him and went to leave, but then rushed back to the mirror to check her appearance. She hadn't seen him for a week, and was amazed to find her heart beating quickly with anticipation.

Bruce looked at his watch and glanced back at the elevator when it finally opened and Jade stepped out. Bruce smiled, taking a deep breath to try and control his own racing heart.

"Have a nice evening, you two." Hank said, holding the door open for them.

"Don't wait up, Hank." Jade said with a sly smile and wink.

Jade returned home shortly after midnight, waving at the night security guard at the desk before letting herself into the elevator. She leaned against the wall as the elevator rose to her floor, a smile seemed to be etched into her face. She checked her messages once she kicked off her heals. Two from Joan reminding her to send the sketches of designs over first thing in the morning. Another from Shirley telling her the same thing. And one from her mysterious friend.

"Ms. Walters, time grows short. Protect yourself." Said a mechanical voice. Jade's smile disappeared. "Please, be careful…"

She deleted it, her heart racing once again as she leaned against the counter suddenly breathless as a cold sweat broke out over her body.

"You didn't have to come with me, Bruce." Jade said, pulling into the parking lot of the vacant building.

"Who doesn't want to be awake at eight in the morning to look at rundown buildings?" He yawned, stepping out of the car.

Jade looked over the old store, "Rundown sounds bad. Let's call it vintage."

"Sure." He yawned again.

She smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the front door. "Once construction is done this is going to be a nice shopping district again."

Bruce looked around at the half-finished project, "You already bought it, didn't you?"

"Two weeks ago."

"I thought you told Joan you hadn't found anything?"

She gave him her devilish smile, "I love making her blood pressure spike. I figure, two months to renovate. But I like the location, I like the size. And here comes the construction company."

A truck pulled into the parking lot. Bruce leaned against Jade's car as she went to talk to the two men who had exited the truck, turning and pointing at the building then back to papers they had laid out on the hood of their truck. He had gotten next to no sleep before coming with her, he had been spending most of his nights looking for the mysterious Panther since speaking to Lucius.

"We'll want window displays. There should be a ledge even with the windows in front. All of this needs to be open for merchandise, except for over here we'll need a counter, and one over there."

"And the dressing rooms?"

"Should be in the back. Doors with locks, no curtains." Jade turned in place looking around the empty building, stopping to face Bruce. "What do you think you are smiling at?"

He shrugged.

Jade blushed a bit and turned back to the other men, "Everything else is in the plans I gave you. I'll stop in when I can to see the progress."

"Sounds good, Ms. Walters. It will take a few days to determine what we'll need to order for materials, but we can definitely get the job done. Should be able to start in two to three weeks."

"Sounds perfect. Thanks, guys, call me if you have any questions."

Jade waited until they were in her car again, "Seriously, what the hell is that smile for?"

"Nothing, I just enjoyed watching you work."

She laughed, "Oh? You think that's exciting, you should see me do paperwork." Jade pulled out her phone, "Give me a minute to call Joan."

"Isn't it like six in the morning over there?"

Jade gave him a smile, "You know a lot of people wake up at six in the morning. Instead of going to bed at six in the morning."

"Oh? You know I didn't know that." He leaned his head against the chair.

"Oh you have some nerve getting me out of the shower." Joan said once she answered the phone. "I thought it was something important."

"I was hoping to wake you up, but as long as I get to hear you yell at me for something my day will be complete." Jade said. "Good news, found a spot. Have construction crew looking into renovating it."

"Are you serious?"

"Booked a place for the show. Have one week to set it up, and a night to show it off. Three months from now."

"Hallelujah! We are back on schedule!"

Jade took the phone from her ear, and Bruce even winced a bit as Joan's voice filled the car from the cell phone, "I'll let you finish getting ready for work."

"Oh, Jade, while I have you on the phone…I want to let you know Shirley is coming to work for us full time."

"Really? That is great. So she is doing a good job?"

"That girl has been sent from heaven. We're working on fixing her class schedule with mine right now. She is a quick thinker and damn is she smart. Sweetest little thing, too. I'll call you once I get into the office and see the status of the factories."

"Thanks, Joan."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14-Batsignal**

Panther stood at the edge of a rooftop, looking all around, before shaking their head and leaping to the next and repeating the action. Batman may have been searching for him, but Panther had been searching for Batman just as hard. He wasn't watching the darling Ms. Walters, or keeping an eye on Wayne Enterprises, and since those were the only two places to think of looking for him…Panther was stumped and a bit anxious. "Stupid…should have given him a way to contact me. Well, screwed once again…" Panther turned, "Unless. Oh, how obvious."

Bruce glanced out his window and saw the batsignal. Ignoring his tired muscles and mind he opened the secret entrance to the bat cave and was on his way.

He reached the rooftop of the police station. The light had been shut off before he had even left the cave, but he had wanted to know why someone had turned it on to begin with. "Gordon?" He called, arriving at the apparently empty rooftop.

"I think he's at home." A mechanical voice said. Batman turned to see Panther, "You make good time."

"You signaled me?"

"I've been looking for you."

"And I've been looking for you."

Panther stood up, smiling beneath the mask. "You found something out?"

"I'm not sure you can say that, considering what you gave me to search with. The procedure you mentioned was confirmed to be developed by Wayne Biotech, but canceled about ten years ago. I'm still looking into those who were involved, none are your Bodega."

"Can I have the list of names?"

"I'd rather you not have them."

"Batman, you don't know how serious this is. I'm in trouble, here. If I don't know who…" Panther sighed and shook their head, "I'm not the only one, Batman. I've gone rogue, and they're hunting me down."

"Why would they do that?"

"I'm not sure exactly why they have decided to. Either they found out I'm digging into the history of where the Panther's originated, or they are mad about the little bomb I used to destroy their lab...or the contract I defaulted on." Panther sat down on the ledge of the rooftop, resting their elbows on their knees and putting their masked face in their gloved hands, "I'm seriously, without a doubt, screwed. I don't know what to do."

"What were you trying to do, Panther?"

"I never really knew." They admitted. "All I wanted to know…was what happened to me. I never understood it. Then I thought if I could find out about Bodega, where he came from…find something to use and find him, stop him. Maybe expose the operation and put the Panthers in the spotlight. But it's too late, if they aren't still in Gotham they will be soon." Panther stood up to face Batman once more. "Thanks for trying."

Batman looked over Panther, their posture that of someone who was defeated. "What will you do now?"

"There isn't a lot you can do when a Panther is being paid to kill you, Batman. But I suppose I will do what I can to stay alive for now."

Batman clenched his jaw, "A Panther was paying someone to kill Jade Walters…"

Panther shrugged, "She's high-profile. Those hits can take months to complete."

Batman took a step towards Panther, "Tell me what you know so I can help you, and save lives."

Panther laughed, "Do you know how much someone will pay to know what the President of a foreign country is doing? Or…how much the untimely death of a nosy senator would go for? Our services go for millions of dollars, Batman. And there are many of us willing to take someone else's payday. Jade doesn't die by one hand, it'll be another. Or maybe, like I said before, she was just an attack to get my attention." Panther gave a mechanical laugh, "Hell, maybe she paid us to pay someone to attack her for the press coverage."

Panther dodged a charging Batman, "Ah, did I hit soft spot? I don't give a damn about Jade Walters, Batman. If she comes out of this alive good for her, but I'm trying to work for a greater good. If other Panthers find out I've been speaking to you, they'll start coming to Gotham in large numbers. Neither of us would survive a week. It might be best if you just forget you ever met me. I can't stay in Gotham much longer anyways."

"Why? You've been here trying to get information, and all of it may be locked away in Wayne Towers."

"Panthers know I'm up to something already. If Bodega hasn't put the dots together by now, he will. I just have to face it…I'm on my own, fighting a losing battle." Panther gave a mechanical sigh, "Don't worry about Jade, Batman. I looked into her case…someone is trying to hurt her financially, not kill her. Just trying to rattle her cage a bit. Didn't think you'd get all worked up about her being a possible target."

"I want to know why anyone would hire a group of assassins and mercenaries to hurt her," Batman demanded.

"You'd have to ask her…but chances are she isn't going to tell you," Panther said, and started running for the edge of the building.

Batman opened his mouth but Panther was already in the air. He frowned, and thought about trying to chase him down. If Panther needed more, he would try to get more.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15-Birthday and Break-in**

"Hey, Alfred," Jade smiled as she entered Bruce's house. "Is Bruce almost ready?"

"Good evening, Ms. Walters. I believe he is still primping, getting ready for the evening. May I say you are looking quite stunning?"

Jade grinned and turned around once in her flowing gown, "You may. You are looking quite well yourself. If Bruce doesn't hurry up I may decide to take you instead."

Alfred smiled warmly and glanced at the stairs as Bruce started to run down them, "Ah, well maybe next time."

Bruce's shirt was only half buttoned, his tie hanging around his neck. He leaned in to kiss her quickly, "Sorry, got distracted. Almost ready."

Jade glanced at her watch, "Don't apologize to me, its Lucius's birthday party we're going to miss."

Bruce stood in front of a mirror and started fixing his tie, "Alfred, get the car pulled around front. We'll be out in a minute."

"Of course, sir."

Jade stepped up behind Bruce, straightening his jacket in the back. "I heard on the radio on my way here that there was a break-in at Wayne Biotech." She said softly.

Bruce nodded, "Yeah, I was watching the news report when I was getting ready. Seems Batman was at the scene, but they didn't find whoever had done it."

"Anything stolen?" She asked, concern creased in her forehead.

He turned and gave her a comfortable smile and said, "I don't know. Let's not let it ruin our evening." Jade nodded. Knowing that Lucius was the actual manager of Wayne Enterprises, she hoped that it wouldn't ruin his good time. "Do I look okay?"

She glanced him over and gave him a devilish smile, "Oh, you look more than okay, Mr. Wayne."

He returned the smile and leaned in to give her a kiss as a horn honked outside. "Alfred has horrible timing," he muttered.

"Alfred knows if we don't get a little push out the door we may really miss the party."

Bruce had to resist asking Jade about what Panther had told him earlier that evening…she had never given Bruce much information about that attack and bringing it up would only upset her. Besides, he had his problems at Wayne Biotech on his mind now. Bruce and Jade were one of the last guests to arrive. Lucius Fox greeted them at the door. "Thank you for coming, Bruce," he said, shaking Bruce's hand.

"Happy birthday, Lucius."

"Thank you." Lucius turned and took Jade's hand next, "Jade, it's always a pleasure."

"Happy birthday, Lucius."

"Think we'll get a minute to talk later?" Bruce asked him quietly.

Lucius nodded, "Oh, you can count on it. You two enjoy yourselves."

Bruce waited until Jade got into a conversation with one of the other guests before using the excuse to grab a drink to find Lucius. Lucius saw him and excused himself from one of his guests to meet him halfway. "What do we know about the break-in?" Bruce asked quietly.

"Remember that stuff you had me look into? They made a beeline for that file. Bit of a mess, but after your interest in it I asked them to look for that particular one first. Gone. Let's hope they don't know I still have the copy in my office upstairs, and the one I gave you. Nothing else reported stolen."

Bruce frowned, perhaps Panther hadn't been satisfied with the information he had given him. "Anyone hurt?"

"No, seems the thieves slipped in when the guards were on patrol in another part of the building."

"Thieves? What makes you think there was more than one?"

"Guards said they saw two dark-clothed individuals running down the street, one carrying a box, before Batman showed up. If he had stayed much longer he may have found out himself."

"Maybe he was pressed for time." Bruce said, taking a full glass of champagne from a traveling waiter.

"We'll say they left after the alarm sounded, leaving with nothing. They didn't get much…the boxes had the actual process and research detailed results are still locked in my office. Stuff I didn't bother giving you."

"You have it all in your office?"

Lucius nodded, "Yes, I do." He glanced around at his guests, low voices all blending into one loud hum. "Jade looks lovely tonight."

Bruce found her standing with a few people, smiling and listening and even laughing at something someone was saying. Lucius watched as Bruce's frown faded away and a small smile replaced it. "She always does. I think I forgot to tell her today, though."

"Well, should probably do that."

Bruce nodded, "I think I will."

Lucius smiled a bit as Bruce walked away. He watched Bruce pull her away from her group, leaned down and whispered something in her ear. She repaid his compliment with a quick kiss on the cheek. He leaned over and whispered something else in her ear which made her blush and laugh.

"Lucius, what are you doing?"

Lucius reached out and took his wife's hand and looked at her, "Have I told you how beautiful you look this evening?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, and then smiled, "Oh, you old fool."

Bruce lay in bed after the party, taking time to think about what Lucius had told him. With what he had found out in the past week, which was very little. But two Panthers breaking into Wayne Biotech?


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16-Another store bites the dust**

Jade mumbled something in her sleep, stirring him from his thoughts. He craned his neck a bit, trying not to move too much in case he woke her up. Her lips were twisted in a frown and he noticed her hands were curled around and gripping the blankets that covered them. Bruce moved his hand from the back of his head and rested it on her shoulder, and felt her relax a bit at his touch. Without warning she rolled over onto her other side, pulling the blankets with her and pinning his arm under her.

Jade woke up slowly, feeling the morning sun coming through the window. She felt Bruce's arm draped over her and his body pressed against hers, a comfortable weight and warmth that made her start to smile. 'Have to see the store, need to call Joan and check on the new designs, have to start looking for models, need to order a runway…' thought Jade, going through a mental checklist of things that had to be done. 'Oh wait, its Saturday…dammit, why the hell did I wake up this early on a Saturday?' She thought, glancing at the tiny clock that was next to the bed.

Bruce's hand twitched against her stomach, and she moved automatically to take it in hers. He muttered something in his sleep, and rolled over and pulled the blankets with him. Jade frowned, turning to face him. His forehead was creased with a firm frown, his eyes darting back and forth between his eyelids. She placed her hand on his chest, moving close to him once again. He seemed to relax a bit, perhaps moving to a more peaceful dream. She smiled slightly, resting her head on his shoulder before closing her eyes again.

Bruce woke up a few hours later, slipping from under Jade's arm and out of bed, grabbing his robe as he left the bedroom.

"Good morning, Master Bruce." Alfred said softly as Bruce entered the kitchen, folding the paper and standing up.

"It's a very good morning, Alfred." Bruce said, opening the fridge.

"Is it, sir?" Alfred said with a bit of a smile. "Would you like me to prepare something for you and Ms. Walters?"

"That'd be great." Bruce said, closing the fridge and going to the counter to grab some coffee.

"I'll bring up the breakfast in about thirty minutes."

Bruce took two cups of coffee back upstairs. Jade stirred at the smell of warm coffee being set on the table next to the bed. Bruce leaned over her, kissing her shoulder and collarbone. "Mm, that tickles." She finally mumbled. "What time is it?"

"About ten."

Her eyes opened, "Are you serious?"

"Too early?"

She laughed, "Early? I haven't slept until ten for weeks."

"Feels great, doesn't it?" He handed her the cup of coffee. "Made it myself."

She laughed as she wrapped her fingers around the warm mug, "Yeah, I bet you did."

"I poured it myself." He shrugged.

Jade pulled on a robe of Bruce's and went over to her pile of clothes and dug through them until she found her purse she had dropped. Bruce stepped behind her and pulled it from her hand, "I hope you aren't planning on leaving."

Jade reached for her purse and he pulled it out of her reach with a teasing smile, she set her coffee down and started to walk to him and he continued to walk away holding her purse as a hostage. "I need to see if an e-mail came in, it will take me two seconds."

"Working? Here?" Bruce raised his eyebrows, and opened her purse.

"Hey…" Jade moaned.

Bruce dug through the little clutch-purse, finding a few sticks of gum, lipstick, a mirror, and of course her phone/portable computer. He took the phone out, and tossed the purse onto the bed. "Wow…"

"What?"

"100 new e-mails, forty missed calls, ten voice messages."

Jade winced, and held out her hand for the phone, "I ignored it all last night. Just let me catch up a bit right now."

Bruce teased her a few more times, holding it out to her and then pulling it from her reach until she grabbed the front of his robes and pulled him in for a kiss to distract him long enough to grab it from his hand.

Once Jade had it she pushed him away playfully and sat on the edge of the bed. Most of the calls had been from Joan, a few from an unknown number. She opened her e-mail, stopping cold at the first one. 'Jade, you better not be having a good time. We had a problem at the Miami store, copy of the Paris store. Did what I could. Security guard on duty was injured. CALL ME.' Jade frowned at Joan's e-mail, and shut off the phone as Bruce climbed onto the bed behind her.

"Boring business." Jade sighed, leaning back and against Bruce.

"See? Should have let me hide it from you."

Jade waited until she was on her way home to call Joan, dressed in her wrinkled evening gown from the night before. "About damn time!" Joan nearly yelled when she answered. "You know how worried I was?"

"You know you don't have to worry about me, Joan. What's the damage in Miami?"

"Same as the store in Paris. Merchandise destroyed, but they did one better at destroying the computer registers and electronic inventory gadgets we recently upgraded to. The security guard you hired was hurt. Broken leg and arm, concussion. He was beat up pretty bad. Remember what Shirley told you? He saw the same person. Or someone dressed like it at least. I've already set the wheels in motion to get the store up and running, but it will take a week. The LA store should be open in about a month, fashion show and Gotham store ready in two. Jade, maybe it's time we let the police…"

"No." Jade said firmly, "No cops. Make sure the security guard is paid well for his services…"

"Throwing around money doesn't solve the situation, Jade. What if they kill the next security guard? Or one of the young girls that works for you? If they get the message that you don't care about your store, maybe they'll start attacking something you do care about. Say your father, or your boyfriend."

Jade swallowed, "Joan, you can't possibly think I can go to the police about this, about what has been happening, and what Shirley and the guard said they saw. Increase security around the board. At the office, stores, everywhere."

"Alright, Jade. Be careful."

Jade hung up her phone, taking calming breaths.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17-Shadow**

That same evening Panther was on the streets, keeping in the shadows and letting the city hide him. Finally taking a perch on a tree above a window that led into an office of a Mr. Lucius Fox.

"I reached this last name, Robert Laughlin. Searched all I could, and haven't come up with anything." The voice was muffled, but Panther was able to determine it came from Mr. Fox.

"So you think this is Henry Bodega?" Mr. Wayne asked him.

"I say considering everyone else on this list is either deceased, working for Wayne Enterprises, or with another company…Laughlin is the only one that doesn't have a history, or a present. I say that's suspicious."

Bruce glanced out the window, looking into the night. He turned back to Lucius, "I'd have to agree. Did you get me copies of everything? Our…friend would like them."

"I have them packed in a box for you. I doubt you'll understand most of it, unless you have a secret medical degree I'm not aware of."

"Thanks, Lucius."

Panther waited until they had left the study before taking a short leap to a close tree, hiding in the leaves to watch the two friends appear on the doorway. Bruce was holding a box in his arms, saying a few last parting words to his friend.

"Mr. Wayne, please put down the box and step back inside," said a mechanical voice.

Panther looked around, trying to determine where the voice was coming from.

Bruce and Lucius were doing the same, "Go inside." Bruce told him softly.

"But leave the box outside." The mechanical voice pressed.

Panther moved silently between the leaves, determining the voice to be hidden in a tree the opposite side of the door.

"I'd like to keep the box," said Bruce, setting it down next to the front door. "And I'd like to meet you. We've found more information concerning what you asked."

'Shit,' thought Panther.

"Well, that isn't very good for you, Mr. Wayne. Or you, Mr. Fox."

Panther took a slow breath, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty." He said in a low mechanical voice.

Bruce spun his head in the directly the new voice came from, his heart beating faster unsure if Panther had moved, or if he was dealing with the two who had broken into Wayne Biotech.

"Who's there?" Said a Panther.

"Mr. Wayne, take the box with you inside and call the police." Said another Panther. "Tell them you have a kitten stuck in a tree."

There was a mechanical laugh, "So, you _have_ been working with civilians. Not very clever, Bodega will have your head for this."

Bruce looked up in the trees that framed the house, not seeing anyone but determining that was where the voices were. The Panther that had been asking for Batman's help on his right, the other to his left.

"You can't touch these men, they are only examining what you idiots broke in to steal. You brought attention to yourselves!" Right Panther said. "If I have to keep Bodega's kitties in check to keep the silence I will…"

"You abandoned us!" Left Panther hissed. "I'm so close to finding you…"

"Let me help you with that," right Panther growled, leaping from their perch on the thick tree branch and through the air. Bruce watched the dark figure disappear into the trees on his left and heard the mechanical yelling and the fall.

Without thinking he ran to the base of the tree where two identical Panther's wrestled briefly before one was thrown into the bushes several yards away. The one that remained jumped to their feet, and went to strike Bruce.

The second Panther grabbed Bruce by the back of his jacket and pulled him from striking range causing him to stumble and fall. He looked up to watch the two Panthers fighting each other, movements smooth and fast. The one closest to him landed a sharp blow to the mouth of the other, and followed it with a second on the side hard enough to break the green glass of the goggles. There was a high pitched scream as the Panther raised a hand to their injured eye. Showing no mercy the other Panther kicked them down, slamming a heavy boot on their back and grabbing their arm and twisting it. "Bad kitty." The victorious Panther said, twisting on the other's arm.

They screamed again, "Are you going to kill me, Shadow?" The gasped, their voice no longer distorted, and Bruce widened his eyes as he realized the defeated Panther was a woman.

"Of course not, kitty." The other Panther said in a soft mechanical voice, "I will be sending you back with a message. Civilians are off limits. Remember who you are dealing with, assassin."

The female Panther laughed, the mechanical voice breaking in and out, apparently it had been damaged during the fight. "Your days are numbered, Shadow."

Shadow Panther twisted the arm they held, and there was a sickening crack followed by a pained cry. "As are Bodega's if he doesn't let me be." Panther released the other, and pulled them roughly to their feet and gave them a push to start running. They ran several steps, and even injured managed to leap a great distance away.

"What the hell is going on?" Bruce asked.

Police sirens could now be heard in the distance, coming quickly. "Bruce, come inside." Lucius said from the door.

"No, I want to know what is going on."

Panther turned to face him, "Mr. Wayne, you are a foolish man. Is your life worth what's in that box?"

"This box may hold the secrets of what you are." Bruce said softly.

"Be smart, lock them in a vault and forget about them. Neither of you know what you are getting into, and I would like to keep it that way."

"I know plenty." Bruce said.

"Keep it to yourself," Panther hissed. "If you are smart, Mr. Fox, you'll report that nothing was stolen from Wayne Biotech…or more will be coming. Having those files in your own home is a death certificate. For you and your family." Panther sighed, and Bruce watched their defensive and angry posture deteriorate. "Both of you…you don't understand. Bodega has trained assassins that will kill without mercy. They'll kill you, and anyone close to you, to make sure the operation continues to go unnoticed. I've only survived this long because only a few know who I am."

"And just who is that?" Bruce asked.

"If I have my way, no one will ever know." Panther turned, seeing the police lights just down the street. He jumped into the tree, from the tree onto the rooftop of the house, and disappeared.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18-Old Friend**

Bruce was unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched, both day and night. Out to lunch with Jade a few days after the incident he saw a woman in the same restaurant with a cut above her eye. "Old girlfriend?" Jade asked casually, noticing him glancing at the woman.

Bruce gave her a smile, "No, just someone I thought I knew. I was mistaken."

"My dad has a premiere he wants me to go to next Friday in LA. What do you think about flying out with me?"

Bruce thought about it, "Next Friday is Valentines Day," he said, taking her hand.

Jade nodded, "Yeah, that's right."

He grew a mischievous smile, "I was planning something a little special for us that day."

Jade raised her eyebrows, "Oh? What?"

"A surprise, but I'll give you a hint. It involves you and me…and nothing else." Jade blushed a bit as he kissed her hand. "Anyways, I was hoping…we'd spend next weekend together."

"And blow off my dad and a red carpet and a lot of celebrities…oh, thank you I would love to."

Bruce took Jade to the Planetarium, which only recently opened in Gotham. An exquisite restaurant placed in an old theatre. The lights were dim throughout most of the building so the stars on the ceiling could be easily seen. "Now that's pretty cool," said Jade, looking up at the ceiling. "Thought this was just going to be you and me?"

"Well, I gave Alfred the night off and…I'm not much of a cook."

A nice dinner, few glasses of wine, they were ready to leave. "Jade Walters, you haven't changed a bit."

Jade's eyes were wide with shock as she turned to the voice, her lips parted slightly as she looked the man over. Bruce turned as well, his eyebrows up in curiosity at the man who had greeted her. "Klaus! Wow…I…wow…"

He stepped up to her, and they took each others hands as he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "You look stunning."

She regained her composure and smiled, "Thank you. I didn't expect to see you here."

"I recently moved to Gotham, actually. Work brought me here, have to say I'm enjoying it so far. I've tried calling you, did you get my messages?"

She laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I thought they were prank calls at first."

He grinned and turned to Bruce, "So sorry, I'm Klaus Dietrich."

Bruce shook his hand, "Bruce Wayne. How…do you two know each other?"

Klaus glanced at Jade with a questioning look, and Jade turned to Bruce, "Klaus and I actually met in France when I was opening the Paris store. He helped set up my first fashion show."

"Which I hear you are planning to do here as well."

"I am."

"I'd love to get a sneak peak, Jade."

She smiled and nodded, "We can arrange that. Will you at least give me your number so I can call you?"

Klaus reached into his jacket and pulled out a card, Jade took it and tucked it away without looking at it. "Sooner the better, Jade."

"Next week."

"I look forward to it. Ciao." He waved.

Bruce waited until they were outside, "Old boyfriend?"

"Oh, heavens no. He swings the other way." Jade said quickly.

"Oh." Bruce said, walking a bit straighter.

Jade declined another invitation from Bruce the next week, "I have a meeting with Klaus tonight. And I have to get up early tomorrow to start arranging the store."

"Business and more business? I'll be glad when this is over."

Jade sighed, "Me too."

"But when this is over, do you plan on leaving for another city and expanding your empire again?"

Jade looked at him thoughtfully, in truth that had been her plan. Not to stay in one city more than a few months. Since creating Marie-Clairie she had lived in Paris, LA, Miami, and Las Vegas for short periods of time. She hadn't planned on finding someone with strong roots to Gotham, someone she so thoroughly enjoyed. "Bruce, are…" She stopped what she was planning on saying, on asking him. "I've come to consider Gotham home, Bruce. But don't ask me to predict the future."

He gave her a small smile and nodded.

That evening Batman took post on an opposite building to Jade's, watching her curled up in a chair looking over a stack of papers. She was dressed in sweatpants and a tank top, and made him wonder if she had lied to him about meeting with her friend Klaus, until she got up and walked over to the door.

Klaus followed her in, both of them taking a seat on the couch. He had a briefcase with him that he sat on the coffee table and opened. Jade's face looked tired, but alert as she talked and they apparently shared information with each other. If Bruce had thought himself jealous with meeting him, he wasn't any longer. Jade appeared to be doing what she had said, meeting with an old friend in the same business and talking business. After nearly an hour of this Jade walked Klaus to the door, cleared the papers away and went to bed for the evening.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19-Welcome Home Ms. Walters**

Bruce had never been to a fashion show before, and he tried to be interested when he went with Jade while her set was being put up at the auditorium. "What the hell is this floor made of, ice? We're going to have models slipping and sliding in four-inch heals." Joan said, walking up and down the runway floor. "Oh, hell no, not going to work. Who the hell is that?"

"Sure you are up for meeting Joan?"

Bruce had actually been looking forward to meeting Jade's loud friend, and nodded.

"Jade, is that you? It's about damn time."

"We stopped for coffee." Jade said, walking up to the runway.

"I sent Shirley out to do the same thing five minutes ago."

Jade frowned, "You flew Shirley out here with you?"

"Nebraska-girl thinks going to Gotham City is a vacation. So happy you are doing this during her spring break so I could keep her close. Girl is invaluable." Joan looked at Bruce, noticing him for the first time. "About damn time I get to meet this kid."

Bruce shook her hand, "I was thinking the same thing. Jade has told me a lot about you." Joan was short and comfortably thick, a bit plain looking but her attitude and personality made up for that.

"Coffee!" Shirley said, walking out onto the runway behind Joan. Her smile faltered when she saw the cup already in Joan's hand. She frowned at Jade.

Jade laughed, "Okay, you've been spending too much time with Joan to dare to give me that look."

"Be nice to my girl, I'm about to fight you for her."

Jade pulled herself onto the runway, "Lets get to work. I want…"

Bruce found a seat and watched with feigned interested as Jade went over her plans with Joan and Shirley. After about twenty minutes Jade jumped off the runway to take a seat next to him, "I told you it was going to be boring as hell for you."

"I'm fascinated." He said.

Jade snorted a laugh, "Go home, Bruce."

"How are you going to get home when you are done."

"I'm going to be here the rest of the day, and the rest of the week. I'll get a ride from Joan."

"That's why I decided to come. Otherwise I'm not going to see you until the night of your show."

"Jade, you didn't order any red gossamer…" Shirley hollered across the auditorium.

Jade groaned, and Bruce let her drop her head on his shoulder, "I'm one minute away losing my mind," she laughed. "Get out of here, Bruce."

"Alright. Still coming over for dinner tonight?"

"As long as Joan doesn't strangle me before then," Jade said, looking anxiously as Joan started walking over to her. She kissed Bruce quickly, "I'll call you after five."

The first day of decorating and setting up the auditorium left Jade drained, and nervous. There were so many things to do, and the night of the show was hanging before her like a bad omen.

"Well, I can't complain. If this is what I get to do every night this week I think it's a success." Bruce said, rubbing her back.

Jade sighed, "Joan was right, the runway is too slippery. Fell on my ass three times running back and forth." Bruce winced, and leaned forward to kiss the back of her neck.

"Did you get a lot done at least?"

She laughed, "No. Might have if I hadn't had to deal with both Joan and my dad."

"Oh? Your father is in town?"

"No, over the phone. He will be here Friday night."

"Really? Will I get to meet him?"

Jade turned her head and looked at him with horror, "Are you kidding?"

Bruce smiled at her face, "You mention him a lot. It seems like you have a good relationship with him."

Jade laughed, "I love my dad. But we don't see eye-to-eye on…just about everything. It's so bad I think he actually does the exact opposite of what I want just to get on my nerves. The only reason we can still get along and act civilly when we are together is because we don't talk."

Bruce looked at her sadly, "I'm sure that's not true. But he is your father…"

Jade pulled him down to lay next to her, her eyes serious and calm. Knowing that Bruce lost his father at a young age, he didn't have to go through his teenage years to understand the pressures that a parent puts on a child. "My dad had very specific plans for his daughters. He wanted us to live and breathe show business, and I started at a young age. I never really liked it, but Marie did. After she died, I decided I didn't want to live the life he had planned out for me. He's been trying to pull me back in ever since. Like I said, I love my dad, but until he realizes I'm not going to follow his path he….gets on my nerves."

"Alright." Bruce said softly. "Does he at least know about us?"

Jade's face lit up again as she laughed, "The whole world knows about us."

"And what does he think about it?"

"He thinks you are a hotshot playboy out to ruin his little girl." Bruce raised his eyebrows. "That's about word for word."

Bruce smiled, taking her hand in his, "Did you tell him that it's his little girl that has made this hotshot playboy fall in love?"

Jade's eyes widened, and her pulse quickened. She let out a laugh, "All right, you did good, Casanova, you might even get lucky."

Bruce kissed her hand, "I mean it, Jade. You are really special to me."

She smiled, her eyes looked almost sad as she placed her hand on the side of his face to pull him in for a kiss.

"So I get to meet him, right?"

She sighed, "Of course. But be warned, it might get ugly."

The next day Jade had invited Joan and Shirley over to her apartment to sort through some of the final plans, and to give Joan a chance to really meet Bruce.

Bruce met the trio at the front desk of the building, and climbed into the elevator with them. "You nervous, kid?" Joan asked Bruce casually as they road up.

"For what?" He asked with a smile.

"Because as soon as I'm done being Jade's assistant, I'm going back into my role as her protective friend. And you, Mr. Wayne, are in for an awkward evening if I have my way."

Jade sighed, "Its okay, Shirley will keep her reigned in."

Joan snorted, "Shirley's a timid kitten, she'll sit back and be quiet if she knows what's good for her."

Jade glanced at Shirley, who gave her a small smile, "Joan, let's just focus on getting what needs to be done, done."

Jade nodded her a thanks, "You know, Joan, Bruce is going to meet my dad on Friday. Might be a good idea to be nice to him."

Joan frowned, then looked at Bruce, "Damn, ruined my fun mood. Now I just feel sorry for the boy."

Jade sighed and stepped out of the elevator, getting a few steps ahead of the others so she could unlock the door. Bruce casually stepped off the elevator after Shirley and Joan, and watched Jade's posture stiffen and her amused face fade to something he had never seen before.

Jade's door was closed partially, but it was clear it had been broken in. The wood splintered at both the deadbolt and the doorknob. She shoved the door open, taking a step inside into what had once been her home.

Joan was right behind Jade, and put a hand to her mouth and took a step back, "My god…"

"Jade, don't go in there, we need to call the police," Bruce said, already digging in his pocket for the phone.

She turned her head slightly, and he caught a glimpse of something he never though Jade could pull off. Pure anger was set in every line in her face, her jaw set and her eyebrows down, her eyes suddenly dark and furious.

Joan's face was pure shock and fright, and she moved closer to Jade to put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Bruce had to admire the woman's bravery, he wasn't sure he wanted to get within range of Jade at that moment. But looking at Jade's rage-filled face again he saw she was in control, perfect control from long practice.

Shirley's face was blank, emotionless. The young girl seemed unfazed by what was left of the condo in front of her, she seemed calm and ready. "I'll call the police downstairs and wait for them." Shirley said softly.

Jade was standing in the middle of her living room, her couches had been shredded and their padding was strewn across the room covering the floor. Her TV was smashed in and on the floor. Her coffee table and lamps all broken into useless pieces.

"Did you hear her, Jade, she's going to call the police." Joan said softly, not moving more than a step into the apartment.

Jade bent her knees to pick up a broken picture frame, the photo of her and her sister when they were young. The frame was broken and the glass shattered, but the photo was still okay.

Bruce, unable to keep his distance any longer, stepped into the broken apartment and put his arms around Jade. She let him, returning the embrace with little warmth. "I'm okay, just give me a minute." She said softly, pulling away from him.

Joan watched Bruce let her walk away from him, his brow creased with concern, and his dark features showing a bit of anger. She had to admit, she was starting to like the guy, too. He was worried about Jade, and so was she, having something in common helped her ease her mind about him.

One of Jade's Wakizashi blades was half-buried in a wall, the other one on the floor. Bruce wondered if she had noticed, but he wasn't going to point it out to her just yet if she hadn't.

Jade disappeared into each of the bedrooms, examining the damage. When she left the last room her face looked tired, still angry, but tired and miserable. "I didn't see one thing that wasn't broken, sliced, or crushed. Anything valuable is still here, just not valuable anymore."

Bruce put his arm around her, and she wrapped her arms around his middle and she sighed a shaky breath. "Everything will be alright," he said softly.

"Yeah, I know. It's just stuff. None of it matters." Jade glanced at the wall with the Wakizashi still stuck in it. She slipped from Bruce's arm once again, grabbed the handle of the blade, and pulled it out and examined the cold steel carefully. She placed it back in its scabbard, and picked its twin off of the floor.

They all talked to the police before leaving. Joan and Shirley going to their hotel, Bruce taking Jade home with him. "Jade…did you leave anything out back there? When you were talking to the police?" He asked softly as they drove to his home. "Do you know who would have done this?"

Jade glanced out the window, "Someone has been harassing me, but I don't know who."

"What about why? Why would they want to do this to you?" Bruce asked, glancing over at her.

"The why doesn't matter. If I pissed someone off enough for them to do this…I can't think of anything." Jade looked at Bruce, who had his eyes on the road. 'Tell him, for his own sake tell him. Don't you dare go into his house again without telling him,' another voice in her head said, and yet another told her, 'It won't matter…the less he knows the better.'

Bruce waited until Jade was asleep and then slipped out of bed to go downstairs. "Will Ms. Walters be staying long, sir?" Alfred asked lightly.

"As long as it takes, Alfred." Bruce said just as softly. "It's too much."

"What is, sir?"

"This…everything. I have to watch my back for Panther. And Jade is in trouble with them, too…but won't tell me why. I…I'm afraid to let her out of my sight, Alfred. You didn't see what happened to her house…it was totaled. Someone literally touched everything inside of it and destroyed it piece by piece."

"I remember, sir, a few months ago when you were wondering how to keep an eye on Ms. Walters after she was attacked. I put the suggestion in that watching her as Bruce Wayne, may be just as affective as watching her as Batman. Do you remember?"

"Of course," nodded Bruce.

"Why do you want to protect her now?"

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Alfred, "Same reason I always have, she is in danger. She's been threatened."

Alfred frowned, "You care about Ms. Walters?"

Bruce's face softened, "Very much, you already know that."

"Now, do you want to protect her because she has been threatened? Or do you want to protect her because you care about her?"

Bruce put a hand to his head, running over the thought. "What have I done, Alfred?" He finally asked.

"Sir?"

"I just wanted to keep an eye on Jade, but she drew me in. She was just…so different, and so energetic. I've gotten too close to her."

Alfred shook his head, "Do you plan to change that, sir?" Bruce looked up at him. "Distance yourself from a woman who makes you happy? Who you absolutely adore?"

"I can't protect her as Bruce Wayne, Alfred." He said firmly. "I don't know what I'm going to do, dammit. I don't know."

Bruce paced outside his bedroom a few times, angry and hating himself for the thoughts that were going through his head. He stopped in the doorway, looking at Jade on his bed. She was moving and for a moment he thought he had woken her up, until he realized she was muttering in her sleep, her fingers twitching a bit before she rolled over and continued to mumble, obviously in a bad dream. He couldn't blame her, after seeing her home destroyed. He slipped into the bed next to her, pulling her into his arms, "You're okay, Jade," he whispered, letting his hand rub her shoulder.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20-A Friendly Warning**

Jade frowned at the gift Bruce had set on the table, "You bought me a stungun?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "And some Mace."

"Is this a joke?"

"Oh, you wish." Alfred muttered.

Jade laughed, "Bruce, you are such a romantic."

Bruce frowned at her, "After what just happened last night you are laughing?"

Jade nodded, getting up from the table and straightening her shirt, "Thanks for the breakfast, Alfred."

"Where are you going?" Bruce asked.

"I am going to work." Bruce held out the stun gun, looking at her as if he really expected her to take it. She sighed, "Bruce, I'm not carrying that around with me."

"Humor me."

She shook her head, "No, not even to humor you. I'm going to my store, so I can get some clothes, and then I'm going to the auditorium where there are still several burly men moving heavy items that would work much better than…that."

"Give me a minute to get dressed, I'll come with you."

"Master Bruce, she does have a lot of work to do. It might be best if you aren't there to distract her," Alfred said lightly.

"Well said, thank you." Jade said gratefully to Alfred.

Bruce shook his head, "I…I don't like worrying about you, Jade. After what happened, I'd feel more comfortable if I knew you had protection."

"I won't be alone," she said, smiling warmly at him. "Please, don't worry about me."

"Will you be home before five?" Bruce asked.

Jade sighed, "I'll try."

"I'm going to be calling you…" He said as she walked out the door.

"She's going to be fine, sir. She's resilient." Alfred said, and turned to see that Bruce was gone. He sighed, "Poor boy is head over heals."

If Jade was still shaken by the incident the night before, she didn't show it at work. Joan and her were quickly putting the finishing touches on the auditorium. The next day, Thursday, they would need to have a rehearsal with the DJ and the models, and Friday would be the show itself.

"Jade, darling, it is looking wonderful."

"Thank you, Klaus. You gave me some great suggestions."

"But there is one problem that needs your concern."

Jade turned to face him, "I really don't feel like I need any more surprises, Klaus."

Klaus and Jade went outside the auditorium, the only place they could go to speak in private. "I did what I could, Jade."

She nodded, "Thank you, Klaus."

"Should we move up the plans? We can leave, go anywhere tonight."

She shook her head, "No, I need to finish this. Joan would have my head if I left early."

"I was able to find out who did the Paris store. I think they were the same one who destroyed your apartment last night."

"It's all the same people, Klaus," Jade said softly, hanging her head in defeat. "I'm just relieved it wasn't you doing it."

Klaus put a strong hand on her shoulder, "Listen, Jay-Wah, unless they decide to hit all your stores again, they are coming for you next. Like a cat playing with a mouse…"

"Yeah, yeah. Bat me around a bit before snapping my neck. I'll go back into hiding after this show. I'm not going to let them take this away from me."

Klaus gave her a hug, "Watch yourself."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21-Fashion Night**

Jade arrived at Bruce's home a bit after five in the evening. She let herself in through the kitchen door, after using the back entrance, and greeted Alfred first. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know if Bruce has anymore wonderful surprises waiting for me, do you?"

Alfred gave her a smile, "I threw away the ones from this morning."

"Thank you!" She gasped.

Jade went up the stairs and found him in his study, he looked up and smiled, "Hey, have a good day?"

"Yes, actually, everything is done. Tomorrow should be a short day, rehearsing and last minute adjustments." Jade sat on his lap and put her arms around his neck, "Friday is the big day. Store opening, lunch with Dad, the evening show…and then it'll all be over." Bruce sighed, liking that thought, but not the look on her face. "And that evening I have to fly to Paris…"

"Paris?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I would like you to come with."

She knew what his answer would be even before she asked, but still when he shook his head her stomach tightened a bit. "I have too much going on here to leave. I know, it's not much, but…"

"No, it's okay. I understand."

"How long did you plan on being there?"

"Few weeks at least. Klaus talked me into going over there to put on a fashion show. He says he can get one set up quick once I'm there. It's a good opportunity. I never do too well in Paris, but he has high hopes for this one."

"Guess we'll just have to make the best of these next couple of days," Bruce said with a little smile. "So, if I came to spend time with you tomorrow would I still be a distraction?"

Jade gave him a smirk, "I'm not sure if I want you there, with all the models and me working…I'll be too busy to keep an eye on you." Bruce narrowed his eyes at her and laughed a bit, which made her grin. "There we go, I missed this." She kissed him slowly. "You are absolutely no fun when you are worried about me."

He sighed a bit, "Alright, if you can get over what happened this quickly…I'll…I'll deal with it."

"Of course I'm not over it, Bruce, I'm just not going to dwell on it. All that stuff…it doesn't make me who I am. Most of it I couldn't care less about. But this, hanging out with you, this is nice."

Bruce smiled, silently agreeing with her.

Thursday was indeed a short day, things going as well as anyone could have hoped.

Friday, as Jade had dreaded, was busy and full. She went alone to open the store with the manager Risty, greeting some of the first customers to come in personally. After that she picked her father up at the airport and they met Bruce for lunch. Something she had been silently dreading the whole week.

"Mr. Walters, pleasure to finally meet you," Bruce said, shaking her father's hand.

Ruben looked him over, gave him a bit of a smile, "Likewise." They all sat down. "So, Jade, when is this event going to be over?"

"It's only an hour long." Jade said casually.

Bruce nodded, on Thursday he had watched it three times, one more hour of it seemed like it would be a cakewalk…more appropriately a catwalk.

"An hour?" Ruben moaned, sounding positively horrified.

"I said you didn't have to come, Dad. I know how precious your time is," Jade said, not sounding angry or annoyed, just sounding like she was stating a simple fact.

"Joan said this is a big event, so I want to be here for you."

Bruce noticed Jade roll her eyes, but she kept silent.

"So, Mr. Wayne, has my daughter been behaving?"

Bruce raised his eyebrows, "Jade is the perfect lady, Mr. Walters, I'm sure you know that."

Mr. Walters laughed, "Oh, that's rich."

Jade sighed, "Dad, what are you working on now?"

Ruben didn't stop talking about his newest film throughout the rest of the lunch. Afterwards Jade gave her father the keys to her car, where he would go to his hotel room to rest before coming to the fashion show. Jade road with Bruce, both of them trying to keep the conversation going. Knowing that after she left for Paris they would only have phone calls, knowing that these were their last pieces of time together and determined not to waste it.

And then they went to her show. Bruce sat next to Ruben Walters in the front, several people were attending. Celebrities and musicians, many wealthy people and fashion enthusiasts, and of course a few select reporters.

Jade stepped out in the runway, a microphone in her hand. The crowd clapped politely and the sound died away as she brought the microphone up. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and may I welcome you to the Spider's Parlor. These new designs have been worked on for several months, inspired by so many different influences it's impossible to name them all. What Marie-Clairie has always been about, was sharing what I liked. Comfort, style, and fun. And as always, a quarter of all sales go towards multiple leukemia charities, both for research and patient assistance, in honor of my late sister Marie Claire Walters. And another share of the profits goes towards the Free the Slaves Foundation to help those in third world countries." Jade glanced around the dark auditorium before turning around and disappearing behind the curtain.

Behind the scenes Jade, Joan, and Shirley ushered the models one after another onto the runway.

"Last one." Joan whispered, standing next to Jade as the last model hit the runway.

"Anything I missed?" Jade asked.

"No, I think it went well. The new floor on the runway doesn't look as nice as the original, but no one fell…" Joan winced, and Jade peaked out the curtain to see the model picking herself up. "Never mind."

"Yeah…" Jade laughed. "I was afraid…for a moment, that something might happen here."

"Now I just jinxed us once, don't you do it a second time," Joan said softly.

Jade turned to Joan, giving her friend a hug, "You know what to do?"

Joan nodded, "Yeah, I do."

Jade went back onto the runway, "Thank you, everyone, for coming and I hope you enjoyed the show. I'll leave you with a quote from the poem that has inspired a lot of my designs recently. 'And now, dear little children, who may this story read. To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne'er heed. Unto an evil counselor close heart, and ear, and eye. And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.' Beware of the spiders, dear flies. Good evening."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22-Home Invasion**

Jade had booked herself a midnight flight to France, giving her a precious few hours with Bruce. Precious few hours that she would use to go to his house, pack what few things she had left, and be dropped off at the airport.

"What will your father do with your car?" Bruce asked as they walked up the steps to the front door.

"He'll leave it at the airport for me, so I have something when I get back."

Bruce looked to see she was smiling at him. She wrapped her arms around his middle, and he placed his arm around her shoulders. "Sure you can't leave in the morning?"

They both heard the rustle of grass as they neared the front door, and they both froze looking for the noise. "Get inside." Bruce whispered.

"Come on." Jade gripped his arm and started to pull him.

A Panther leapt down and blocked the front door, three from each side came into the dim lighted pathway, each holding an extended baton out. Bruce swallowed, trying to put himself between Jade and the deadly assassins but they were surrounded.

"Leave him, take her."

Jade stiffened a bit, her back against his so they could see the Panthers on both sides. "Bruce, go." She hissed.

"No, hell no." Bruce growled. "She isn't going anywhere with you people."

"Go inside, call the police, don't try to be a damned hero," Jade whispered, her voice shaking slightly.

"I am not leaving you, Jade," Bruce said firmly.

"There are seven of them. Don't you dare…" she pleaded with him.

"Move in," said a mechanical voice.

Bruce moved forward to take down the first Panther that reached him, tackling him only to be grabbed by two others who held his arms behind his back. He was turned around to see Jade who was similarly caught, but she was still struggling with the two that held her. She raised her head to see him, and she stopped struggling. "Don't hurt him, if you just want me don't hurt him."

Bruce tried to free his arms, to get to his feet, but the two Panthers held him too firmly, "Jade!"

"Don't!" She screamed.

Bruce grunted as a baton hit him squarely in the back of the head, and everything went dark. He woke up only a few minutes later, but the grounds were empty.

Bruce stumbled into his home, his head aching and his vision still blurry. "Master Bruce? What happened?"

"Panthers took her, they took her!" Bruce stumbled into his study, tapping the keys to open his entrance to the batcave. "They couldn't have gotten far, I have to find her."

"What will you be doing?"

"I have to find her, Alfred. I'll either find her, or I'll find the Panthers that took her."

Jade squinted into the light, trying to make out who was standing in the shadows just beyond the lights reach. "I'm a bit bored, maybe we can sing a song."

"Shut up." A mechanical voice snapped.

"Is Bruce okay?" She asked softly.

"Another Panther reported he got up a few minutes after we left." A uniform was thrown on her lap, "Let's finish this, Shadow. You can't run any more."

Jade let her head fall to her chest, she was tightly bound to a chair with enough duct tape to put her apartment, piece by piece, back together. 'I should have listened to Klaus, I should have left days ago…if I had Bruce wouldn't have had to see this. I could have thrown them off my trail…just a bit longer.'

"Shadow Panther, are you ready?"

Jade lifted her head, "I can't change into the damned uniform strapped to this chair, can I?"

The Panther stepped into the light, and with quick precise stroke of a knife cut her loose. Jade took her time pealing the tape from her arms and legs, before stepping out of her clothes shamelessly and picking up the uniform.

Jade first put on the goggles, then the body stocking so not any piece of her skin was visible, her voice distorter right next to her lips. Next was the leather pants, thick and reinforced for protection. The vest was last, heavy Kevlar in the front and back, but the sides exposed. Pockets lined the front, she poked through them and realized this was her actual vest and wondered how long it had taken them to find her base. All together the uniform weighed about a hundred pounds, easy weight for a Panther. Except for the height of the fellow Panthers it was impossible to tell one from the other, and if one was male or female.

Each Panther had two others they would truly know behind the mask, creating a three-man team. Always a recon specialist, or Shadow, and two assassins. It was customary for the recon specialist to be the only one with access to Bodega, and then relay the information to their team. And Jade had used this information to put a serious disturbance in Bodega's communication circle.

She had defaulted on a contract, refusing to hit the mark Bodega requested her do directly. She never reported to her team, but instead went back to Bodega's lab and destroyed it. Without the base other recon specialists were unable to reach Bodega for their own contracts, and to find out what had happened. His own system he created that made such a successful operation…had screwed him over. The only ones who knew who the Shadow was, were the team mates and Bodega himself. With Bodega unreachable without a base to work from, other teams Shadows were unable to discover who had destroyed the operation.

But her own teammates figured something had happened when she never returned with new information. Jade stood to face one of her former teammates now, "Hello, Jade."

"Klaus," she replied in her identical mechanical voice. "Where is Patrick?"

"I was never able to find him, he wasn't as easy to locate as you."

"You are a dirty bastard, and I hope you rot in hell for this," Jade said, the mechanical voice showing no actual signs of anger.

"I did my duty to you, Jade, I gave you a fair warning."

Jade glanced around at the six other Panthers, two other teams. "So where is Bodega now?"

"Securing a new base and lab. We'll be lucky if other Shadows return, but with so many offers lost you set him back several hundred million dollars." One of the Panthers said.

Jade smiled beneath her mask, "I wish I could have seen the look on his face."

"Klaus, have you decided how you want to finish your teammate, or can we have a free for all?" Another Panther growled, their mechanical voice screeching.

"I definitely want my chance at her. Bitch broke my arm."

Jade swallowed, "The civilians…"

"Are not contracts," Klaus said. "They would be too high profile for us to do in our weakened state. If Bodega gives other orders, we'll worry about it then."

"If anything happens to any civilian, and I get a tiny hunch that the Panthers have anything to do with it…I'll rip each and every one of you throats out with my bare hands." Jade said softly.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it, you'll be dead long before then. Klaus, how are you finishing this?"

Jade heard Klaus sigh a bit, "Shadow, I have great respect for you. You were the strongest of our kind I ever witnessed, and you were always a good friend. How do you want to die?"


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23-Panther Lair**

Joan was about to have a panic attack. She couldn't believe her damned luck. Jade needed her, needed help, and she was tied to a chair being watched over by a goddamned ninja with night-vision goggles in the middle of Jade's trashed apartment.

"She keeps her swords nice and sharp, doesn't she?" The Panther said, admiring a katana that had been hidden under the ruins of the couch. "I'll ask you again, Joan, what do you know about Jade?"

"Don't you dare hurt her," Joan said, her voice trembling.

Batman didn't know why he had gone to Jade's condo, if only to see something that may lead him somewhere else. But what he found gave him hope that he would find her, and save her. He aimed his grappling hook to the rooftop, tugged it tight, and swung over and crashed through the window.

Panther turned, dropping the katana they had been threatening Joan with, and jumped back with fright. "Shit…" they said in their mechanical voice.

Batman grabbed them by the vest with both hands, lifting them and shoving them against the wall. "Where is she?" He shouted.

Joan looked at Batman with amazement and hope. "You're looking for Jade?"

Panther kicked out, and struggled, but was unable to escape Batman's enraged hold. "Where is Jade?" He ripped the mask and goggles off of Panther, and then dropped the Panther in surprise.

Shirley fell to the ground, glaring up at Batman with pure hatred. She glanced at him, then at the broken window. "You're already too late." Shirley dodged Batman's attempt to grab her again and dove out the window.

Batman went to follow, but Joan shouted out for him, "I know where they are holding her!"

Batman turned, "Where?"

"I'll tell you while you cut me loose," Joan said, and Batman wasted no time freeing her. "There is an abandoned warehouse, downtown in the construction area. In the heart of it, no one goes there, no one even gets close."

"How do you know this?"

"I can't tell you, but I sure as hell can't save Jade alone."

"You are going to go downstairs in the lobby where it's safe."

Joan shook her head, "No, I need to help her."

Batman looked Joan over, "You know what's going on?"

Joan's eyes wandered, "They are going to kill her, Batman. She was supposed to leave tonight, we were all just supposed to leave…"

"Stay here, where it's safe. I will find her."

Batman reached the warehouse, moving silently to discover what was going on. Inside he saw eight Panthers, two were in the middle of a loose circle. But he didn't see Jade.

"Shadow, I have great respect for you. You were the strongest of our kind I ever witnessed, and you were always a good friend. How do you want to die?" One mechanical voice said.

"You've hunted me for so long, how did you imagine it would end, assassin?"

A mechanical voice laughed, "I always hoped to find out who was the better. Bodega adored your talents so much, perhaps defeating you honorably would gain me greater favor."

Another mechanical voice laughed, "A duel, assassin? Fight me to the death?"

"I have no fear of death, and you have no way of escaping two other Shadows and four assassins…your death has been guaranteed since you abandoned us." Batman tensed slightly, still no sign of Jade, but one of the Panther's in the middle was the one who he had spoken to, he had finally been captured. "I've always been partial to blades myself, Shadow. Will that work for you?"

"Bring it on," A Panther shrugged.

One of the Panthers in the circle groaned mechanically, "This is ridiculous. I say we just shoot them in the head, drop them off in the Narrows, and get back to Bodega. Might as well finish off the civilians so we don't have to make a trip back here."

"She is mine to deal with! I will have my way!" The other Panther in the center shouted. "Bring me my blades."

A Panther stepped into the circle, holding out two short swords. One Panther took both, gripping them firmly before holding one out to the other.

"Ready, Shadow?"

There was a mechanical sigh, "Either way, we're dead, right?"

"Pretty much."

And Batman watched in amazement as the two Panthers turned their backs on one another, and faced the circle. The circle of Panthers were obviously taken back, too, but once they realized the two in the circle were preparing to fight side by side, instead of each other, they were ready to fight.

Batman dropped down behind two Panthers, leaving the Shadow and his partner to handle the other four. "Where is Jade?" He shouted, blocking an attack from one Panther while striking another.

Jade grabbed a Panther close, using her blade to slice off their Kevlar vest, and kicking them hard enough in the chest to hear the cracking of ribs. "I'm sure she's fine, Batman, probably having a party somewhere." She hollered in her mechanical voice.

A Panther looked around, seeing two of his comrades down, he fled the scene instead of engaging Batman.

Shadow brought up her short sword to block a baton, and the blade was knocked out of her hands. She held her arm up to take the next swing, grabbing it and twisting it from the others grasp before spinning and hitting him in the upper arm. She turned to meet another attack, and paused the same time her attacker did. "I'm very happy to see you."

Batman lowered his fist, and glanced around to see a few injured Panthers on the ground, but most of them had fled. He grabbed Shadow by the front of the vest, "Where is Jade?"

"She's fine," Klaus said, stepping to stand beside his teammate. "Already on her way home, we let her go back on foot."

"Why did you take her?"

"Down!" Jade shouted in her mechanical voice. Klaus dropped without question, but Jade grabbed onto Batman and dragged him down with her as the deafening sound of a gun shot blasted. "Dammit!" Jade screamed as hot pain flashed through her. "That…" She looked up to see Shirley in uniform without her mask, with a smoking gun, her hands shaking as she went to aim again.

Batman threw a batarang, hitting the gun and knocking it out of her hands before she could fire again. Shadow was up, taking swift and furious steps towards the young woman.

Shirley had been injured in her fall from Jade's apartment building, and wasn't fast enough to manage another escape. Shadow grabbed her around the throat and lifted her off her feet, "You have some nerve, girl." Shirley made choking sounds and kicked her feet. "For you, I have a present." Jade let Shirley drop, but placed a firm boot on her armored chest. She dug in one of her vest pockets, producing a small tranquilizer dart. "You'll be the beginning of the exposure." And with that Jade stabbed the tranquilizer into Shirley's arm.

"You're hit." The other Panther said.

Jade's arm was covered in blood, and she wasn't able to move it. "Did you sedate the others?"

"Yes. But you are hurt."

Shadow turned to face Batman, "How did you know where to find us?"

"Jade's assistant, Joan."

"Good, if she is safe she would have called the police next. Jade is safe, Batman, we made sure of it. I guess things ended up working out in the end." The uninjured Panther said.

"We better split."

"Hold it," Batman said, "You aren't going anywhere until I know who you are."

The two Panthers backed away from his reach, and split at the same time. "I'll take you to Jade." The uninjured Panther said. "Let my friend seek medical attention and avoid you for another day, I'll show you that Jade is well and fine…"

"Play nice, kids." Shadow said, running out the door and disappearing.

Batman turned to Klaus, "Often concerned about the cute little socialite, aren't ya, big guy?"

Klaus didn't try to duck or dodge when Batman ripped his mask off. He hid his shock better than he had when seeing Shirley. Two Panthers were Jade's friends. "What the hell is going on?"

Klaus shrugged, "End of an era, I hope. But with every ending, there is a new beginning."

Batman ran after the injured Panther, a horrible and sick thought in his mind.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24-Discovered**

Jade was able to make it to her base, a tiny storage facility that held her gear she used as Panther. She got into different clothes, checked the bullet wound in her arm. It hadn't gone all the way through, but it seemed to have hit the bone. Biting her teeth into a thick wad of cloth she dug the bullet out, and tucked it into a vest pocket for safe keeping. Then with difficultly managed to tie a tourniquet around it before pulling on a tank top and zippered sweatshirt. She knew several of the Panthers escaped, and her first concern was that they didn't go after the civilians, Mr. Fox and of course Bruce. Holding her arm close to her to minimize the pain, she ran to Wayne mansion.

Police lights were flashing in front of the manor. With a little less ease than she normally would have managed, Jade jumped over the gate, and slipped through to the back door.

Alfred was sitting up, a cup of hot tea in front of him. When she burst through the door he jumped up, fast enough to knock over his char, "My…Ms. Walters! You're alright, thank the heavens!"

"Alfred! Where is Bruce?" Jade asked, panting for breath. "Is he okay? Have the cops been here the whole time?"

"Yes, he's fine! He's out looking for you! As is every cop in the city…oh…dear, you're bleeding."

She looked at her arm, blood showing up easily on the blue sweatshirt and spreading quickly as well. She looked back to Alfred, "We have to make sure Bruce is alright, I escaped, they were talking about hurting him because of what he knew. Can you get a hold of him?"

"Of course, Ms. Walters, but we should get the cops and get you a doctor so…"

Jade grabbed his shoulder with her good arm, "No cops, no doctors. Alfred, I can't explain. Please, Alfred, make sure Bruce is alright and get him back here."

Alfred nodded, "Yes, of course. Go through the back staircase, there are police inside the house."

"Thank you," she breathed, and stumbled through the kitchen and up the stairs. She reached the bedroom, digging through her suitcase.

"Looking for something?" A voice said.

Jade turned to see Batman leaning against the wall in the shadows. She looked at him, simple terror in her eyes, "You really shouldn't do that."

"So I've been told," he said, his voice a near growl.

She carefully pulled her sweatshirt off of her injured arm, grabbing a towel and wrapping it over the other tourniquet. It was bad, she knew. She had lost a lot of blood just on her way to the base, and she had ignored the pain and weakness she felt on her way to the house in fear of Panthers coming to attack Bruce…her whole sleeve was covered in blood.

"How long have you known it was me?" She finally asked, sitting with her back against the wall.

"I followed you to find Jade." Batman kept his distance, looking at her scared face. Sweat covered her face and chest, blood soaked her clothes. "You took that bullet for me?"

She laughed, "Believe me, it wasn't intentional."

"Who else knows?"

Jade swallowed, "Klaus, my partner tonight. Joan, my assistant. Shirley, my former assistant. All the other Panthers, Bodega, of course. My father, sort of."

Batman shook his head, "What did you get into, Jade?"

She rested her head against the wall, she felt her muscles trembling slightly. "My sister was diagnosed with cancer when she was fourteen. I practically watched her wither away. She was my best friend, my little sister. They went to test me, to see if I would be able to give her a bone marrow transplant." Jade closed her eyes, and made a sound that Batman was unsure if it was a laugh or a sob. "And found out I had cancer, too. Exact same kind. My dad had a friend in Gotham, working at Wayne Biotech. Said he had a process that might save us."

"Immuno-Tempering?" Batman asked quietly.

"I didn't know what the hell it was. Either way we were dead, I know that now. But back then…I was promised that me and my sister would go in sick, and come out cured. I endured, with that belief, that after the pain of the process, me and Marie would be okay. I woke up a few days later, her body had already been cremated."

"If you went through the process here, how did you end up with Bodega?"

"They never told me what would happen after the process. I was depressed, spent years just trying to numb the pain. Drugs, alcohol, even tried to kill myself a few times. Nothing affected me. Bodega had found out about me, and recruited me. For a few years I thought he was my savior. Helped me understand how I'd been betrayed, how the whole world was against me…how I was so remarkable and special." Jade's arm had stopped bleeding, after nearly soaking through the whole towel. "I thought I was doing the right thing, but I was so damned blind and naive. I spied on foreign leaders, thought I was preventing wars. Searching for terrorists, thought I was saving lives. All the while I was feeding Bodega information to carry out his own brand of death. He sent me on a mission to destroy who he called a gross human rights violator. A foreign leader and his family."

"You became an assassin?"

Jade shook her head, "No, I'm a Shadow, a watcher. So that's what I did, I watched…and I realized that this man was fighting the true criminals. That he was doing good for his country and people. But what he was doing wasn't very beneficial for someone who had enough money to get rid of him." Jade sighed and closed her eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. "I went back to Bodega. I probably would have killed him after realizing what an idiot I had been, but he wasn't at base. I bombed it, destroyed everything…and ran. The inner workings of the operation came to a halt, at least until recently. I started a relationship with David Xander to have access to the labs at his company…trying to understand what the hell was done to me. He tried to help…then tried to see if he could get his scientists to replicate the process…the bastard. I destroyed all the samples I gave him and all the notes that were taken on me at his company…then I moved to Gotham, to where it happened.

"Then to get a message across, someone paid Mickey to try and kidnap and deliver me…instead of coming out to me in the open. A damned two-bit criminal got one over on me, I was beating myself over that slip for days afterwards." Jade opened her eyes, aware that she was dangerously close to passing out. "I came to Gotham just to search for answers. Just enough to find out what they did to me, and why my sister had to die. All I wanted was the truth, because I don't trust a damn thing Bodega ever told me. But then he sent the others. Shirley, the girl who shot me, had me fooled. I hired her for my company, thinking she was a sweet little girl. I found out earlier this week she was just a Shadow waiting for the right time to strike. Klaus has been keeping me in the loop, doing his best to help me determine the Panther movements. Even planned the attack that they did to ensure I would survive long enough to fight back. Wasn't supposed to hurt Bruce when doing it, though."

"And your relationship with him, a tool to get you closer to finding information?"

Jade narrowed her eyes at him, "No. I never asked Bruce to look into a damn thing for me, and I never would have."

"Connecting yourself to a Wayne to investigate Wayne Biotech? Sounds like a brilliant plan. Although I'm surprised you would try it after the same thing with Xander failed…"

"Shut up," Jade growled. "I should be on a plane over the Atlantic right now, but I'm here making sure no Panther that got away tonight decides to destroy someone I love." Jade swallowed, and then closed her eyes again. "I never thought they would regroup. Now that they have, and they know who I am, Bruce isn't safe. I'd never forgive myself if they made him pay for what I did."

"What do you plan on doing?"

"If I can manage to stand up…I'm leaving the country. Any Panthers out for revenge should follow, and they won't have a reason to hurt Bruce or anyone else, and if I'm lucky someone will lead me back to Bodega so I can stop the operation for good. I have other Panthers on my side, now."

"And after?"

Jade's head bobbed, "After what?" She asked.

"If you succeed, what would you do after?"

She shook her head, "There isn't anything after. I just have to…su…survive…"

Batman picked her up, "Come on, I'm getting you to the hospital."

"No…I'll be okay." She said, squirming in his arms.

He set her on the bed, and she fell over, "Jade, you've lost a lot of blood…"

"I'll be fine!" She growled, baring her teeth. "Just let me get out of this city and you'll never see me again."

"Let me help you," he said, his voice soft and pleading.

Jade fell over, and still. Bruce checked her pulse, strong and steady, but she was unconscious. He pulled off his mask, "What are you doing?" Alfred asked in a hushed voice.

Bruce looked at him, "Tell the police Jade escaped her kidnappers, returned here. She's fine, exhausted and sleeping. Bring up the medical kit."

Bruce continued shedding the Batman costume and pulling on pajama bottoms. He removed the towel that covered her wound, it was ugly but not life-threatening.

Carefully and thoroughly he cleaned the wound. She stirred slightly, but was so weak that she never fully woke up. After he dressed the wound with clean bandages, he carefully removed her blood-soaked clothes and put her in some of her own colorful pajamas.

"Are you ready to tell me what is going on?"

Bruce looked at Alfred, and through the door to Jade. "What did she tell you before she came up here?"

"She just asked me to check in on you. She was out of breath, bleeding, and terrified. She had just escaped from her abductors and she thought they were out to kill you! You may still have it in your head that you are protecting her but she's…"

"She said she loved me." Bruce said softly, more to himself than to anyone else.

Alfred raised his eyebrows, "Well that's very nice to hear, I'm sure, but that doesn't…"

"I love her." Bruce said, again more to himself than to Alfred.

"Again, nice to hear. I admit I'm quite fond of having her around myself, but still…"

"She's Panther," Bruce said, finally turning to face Alfred. "All this time I thought I was protecting her…and she's more than capable of protecting herself. When we were outside earlier, I was just Bruce Wayne, and I was ready to fight for her…and she was begging me to just go inside and leave…she knew she was the one they wanted all along." Bruce closed his eyes and let his head hit the wall, then hit it a few more times a little harder. "Why is this happening?"

"Master Bruce, I don't know. And if I did I bet I still wouldn't understand it. What you need to decide now, is what you are going to do."

"She wants to leave me tomorrow…to protect me from the rest of the Panthers." He laughed, and then grimaced. He looked into the room, she was still passed out on the bed. "I'm not letting her."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25-Goodbyes**

Bruce watched over Jade the next few hours. It was bad, he knew…she should be at a hospital. She needed blood, stitches…he just didn't have that available. He was surprised when she started to wake up.

"Hey, there you are…" he whispered, putting a hand to her forehead and moving her hair back.

Jade didn't speak as she waited for her mind to clear. She felt drained, weak and sore. "Bruce…what…what happened?"

Bruce swallowed, "Batman followed you, Jade."

Jade was already pale, but color flushed to her cheeks, "What?"

"I…I know what happened to you."

"Oh, god," she groaned, moving to sit up.

"Don't, don't!" Bruce said, trying to get her to lay down. She shoved him away with more strength than he imagined she could possess and sent him stumbling backwards. "Jade…why didn't you tell me?"

"Bruce, you know nothing…I…I have to get out of Gotham. What time is it?"

Bruce went to help her stand up, "It's almost dawn. You don't have to go anywhere. The police have taken others into custody already. Jade…Jade, stop it!"

Bruce tried to prevent her from walking out the bedroom door, but she pulled her arm out of his grasp. "Bruce, I have to go," she said in a raspy voice. "You can't be seen with me!"

Bruce kept speed with her, "Jade, you can't just leave me like this!" Bruce ran to get in front of her and blocked her way to the stairs.

"Bruce…" Jade said softly, looking into his eyes.

"I told you! You are not welcome here!" Alfred shouted, and they heard footsteps.

Bruce and Jade both turned to look over the foyer, and saw Klaus appear, with Alfred right behind him. Klaus saw her at the top of the steps, "Jade, dear…we need to go…and now."

"She isn't leaving," Bruce answered.

"Yes, I am." Jade said, putting her hand on Bruce's shoulder so he would look at her. "Bruce…I'm so sorry…I never wanted you to know…to get involved."

"A little late for that," Bruce said. "Jade, I love you…"

Jade closed her eyes, and pulled Bruce into a hug, burying her face in his bare shoulder. "I love you, too, Bruce…but I can't stay here. I have to lead them out of Gotham…away from you."

"No…"

"Yes. If we don't find the man responsible, more will come. More will be made." Jade took a shaky breath, "I'll come back…I promise I'll come back."

"You already got hurt, Jade…"

"Don't worry about me, please don't…just know….I'll come back," she promised once again.

"How will I know you are alright?" Bruce asked.

Jade pulled away from him and looked at him with sad eyes, "You won't."

She walked down the stairs, and walked out the door with Klaus.

"Jade Walters was once again attacked at her boyfriend Bruce Wayne's home just hours after her fashion show. The series of attacks at her chain of Marie-Clairie stores, a vandalism of her apartment, and a personal attack on her at her home all within the past few months has driven the former-actress, humanitarian, and entrepreneur into hiding. Investigations lead to the possibility of a foreign crime lord getting revenge on her efforts to end slavery and child labor in multiple foreign countries that thrive on the cheap labor. In other news a group of mercenaries were apprehended by Batman in Gotham City warehouse district. These soldiers had been genetically altered to be super-beings capable of great physical capabilities and extremely dangerous. There is no word what these mercenaries were doing in Gotham and if there are more of them to be found."

Bruce shut off the television. It had only been a few days, but it felt as if it had been months. Jade felt like a memory, like a dream. He went over it in his mind, trying to find something he could have done to change the outcome. His adversary, Panther, and his love, Jade…were one in the same. He had found a woman perfect for him…of course it had to be the woman with just as many issues as he had.

And here ends this sad love story. Bruce continuing his protection of Gotham under Batman's mask, adding his loss of Jade in the rage that fuels him to keep going.

***I'd really appreciate reviews and thank everyone for adding the story to their favorites. I have a few ideas to make a sequel playing around in my head, posting this gave me a few thoughts but I would want to add a lot more characters from Batman if I did do another...so it's not coming along as quickly as I like. But this story is now complete. Again, thank you for reading and I'd appreciate if you left me a review and told me what you thought.***


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